Thatcher's golliwog remark loses her TV show job

CAROL Thatcher will no longer be working on The One Show, the BBC said last night.

Her future with the BBC1 programme had been questioned after she referred to a tennis player as a "golliwog".

The daughter of former prime minister Baroness Thatcher made the remark after filming the show last Thursday during a conversation with presenter Adrian Chiles and several guests.

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Thatcher was immediately challenged about the remark, but apologised only yesterday and dismissed the comment as a "joke".

A BBC spokesman said late yesterday: "We will no longer be working with Carol Thatcher on The One Show."

Crowned Queen of the Jungle in the 2005 series of I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!, she was a regular contributor to the show and the programme's website praises "her dry, self-deprecating wit and tenacious spirit".

The remark was made during a conversation about the Australian Open tennis tournament, in reference to a player who had recently been knocked out of the men's singles draw.

BBC sources said the remark caused great offence to those who heard it at the time and those members of the production team who heard about it later on.

Thatcher's job as a roving reporter for the programme required her to report on a variety of issues and to meet a range of people throughout the country, many of whom were unlikely to agree that her comment was acceptable even as a joke, sources said.

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