[Archive 2009-02-04] UK television presenter sacked after "golliwog" comment

Historical archive — originally published 2009-02-04. This report records what was known on that date. It is not current news; subsequent events may have changed the situation. Wikinews closed in May 2026.

The BBC has sacked Carol Thatcher after she compared a black tennis player to a golliwog doll.

Thatcher, daughter of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, was dropped from the primetime BBC One magazine programme The One Show after she made the remark after the show in the studio green room. The BBC has declined to name the tennis player in question.

The BBC said that it had hoped for an unconditional apology from the 55-year-old journalist and I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here winner after staff reported that the remark to management, but a spokesman said "We're no longer going to be working with her on The One Show" when the apology did not appear.

The Corporation has suffered scandals in the last few years, such as the recent Russell Brand-Jonathan Ross episode, which saw the two presenters making obscene phone calls to actor Andrew Sachs.

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