Radio host Steve Allen has reportedly apologized to Tilly Ramseysay for remarks he made about Tilly as a chubby little thing’
After calling Tilly Ramsay a “chubby little thing” live on radio, Steve Allen has sent Tilly an apology.
Allen, 67 was criticised after he said on LBC radio that Allen was bored with the performances of the 19-year old on BBC’s show and that her physical appearance was likely due to ‘her dad’s cooking’.
CBBC presenter Ramsay is the daughter of celebrity chef Gordon. She reacted on social media by saying that she ‘won’t tolerate people who think it’s OK to publicly criticise and scrutinise anyone’s weight and appearance’.
Allen had contacted her earlier in the week to apologize, according to the PA news agency.
The news of Allen’s apology comes days after Allen faced calls to quit LBC bosses. They said they were standing by Allen and that there was no plan at this stage to investigate his comments.
Allen was reading a comment from a listener that the teenager is participating in Celebrity MasterChef Australia.
He replied, “Is she?” He replied: ‘Is she?’ She can’t blimming dance. I’m bored with him already.
“She’s a little chubby thing, isn’t she? Have you noticed? I would guess that it is her dad’s cooking.
Tilly Ramsay, pictured on Saturday’s show with her partner Nikita Kushmin, said she had been through a ‘difficult weeks of training’ after being criticised by Steve Allen.
Alex George, an ex-Love Island star and now a youth mental health ambassador for Government, has criticised his comments.
He shared an Instagram screenshot of the email he sent LBC about the incident and said that he was ‘absolutely horrified by’ the comments.
Ramsay was also overwhelmed with support from her Strictly co stars, with Janette Manrara, It Takes Two presenter, writing: ‘How quickly we forget what hurtful remarks can do for someone’s mental health.
Ramsay was third on the leaderboard with her performance on Strictly.
Ramsay finished third on Saturday’s Strictly with 36 points.
She spoke after her dance about her joy after a difficult week of training.
MailOnline was informed by an insider that Allen is not being treated as a dinosaur by some at LBC. However, others wanted him stay.
An insider said that Allen was ‘good friends’ with Eddie Mair (LBC) and Nick Ferrari (BBC), and was ‘well-respected in the industry’ among breakfast presenters at other stations.
LBC and Ofcom did not confirm whether there were any complaints. An Ofcom spokesperson told MailOnline that the company was still evaluating the complaints against its broadcasting rules but had yet to decide whether or no to investigate.
The news of Allen’s apology comes just days after LBC bosses stood behind Allen despite calls to him to quit.
The insider stated that it was unclear whether Allen’s comments would be considered offensive by Ofcom.
He said: They must balance freedom of expression and causing offense, and I’m not certain that ‘chubby is one of those prohibited words. It is possible that it is. However, the broadcasting code contains 2.1, which is known as ‘generally acceptable standards’.
“It’s their catchall” – so if there are a lot more complaints they will use that standard to judge it – so I doubt this would be upheld. People can offend other people. It’s not against the broadcasting codes.