Strictly host defended judge in huge race row

ok.co.uk:

Strictly Come Dancing was embroiled in a huge race row, when Anton du Beke said a celebrity looked like a "P***i". Anton was paired with actress Laila Rouass on the show 15 year ago, and made the comment after she'd undergone a spray tan.

At the time, the late Sir Bruce Forsyth was hosting the show alongside Tess Daly. Speaking on the matter to TalkSport in 2009, Bruce said it was a ‘terrible shame’. "You go back 25, 30, 40 years and there has always been a bit of humour about the whole thing,” he said. “At one time the Americans used to call us 'limeys' which doesn't sound very nice, but we used to laugh about it.

Everybody has a nickname. And Anton is such a sweet guy, it's such a terrible shame." Bruce then went on to tell the radio station that Anton was a ‘lovely, sensitive guy’. "OK, he can be a bit mouthy and can say quick things off-the-cuff like I do.

If someone says something to me then I'm straight back. Quick reflex of the tongue is what we've got,” he continued. “But when you're like that you can slip up every now and again.