Leigh Francis refuses to apologise for Bo Selecta and has ‘no regrets’

Leigh Francis’ programme Bo Selecta was previously pulled from Channel 4 (Picture: Reuters)

Leigh Francis has insisted he ‘doesn’t regret’ his controversial TV show Bo Selecta despite accusations of racism.

In 2020, Channel 4 pulled all episodes of the programme from its streaming service after backlash over the portrayal of Black celebrities including Craig David and Trisha Goddard.

At the time, in the wake of George Floyd’s death and the Black Lives Matter movement, Leigh, 51, tearfully apologised for causing ‘any upset’ and said he ‘didn’t realise how offensive it was back then.’

However, in a new interview, Leigh said he ‘didn’t regret anything’ about Bo Selecta but said he would ‘probably’ change some elements of the TV show.

Speaking with Richard and Izzy Hammond on their podcast, Who We Are Now, he said: ‘Let’s get cut to the chase. Some people say, “Do you regret some of the things you did in your past?” No, I don’t. I don’t regret anything. Would I change things? Probably.’

While he conceded that some of his characters and impersonations caused offence, Leigh was adamant that he never intended to upset anybody.

His impersonations, including of Craig David, have been accused of being racist (Picture: Channel 4)

Leigh said he never intended to offend but did not regret ‘anything’ (Picture: Joe Maher/Getty Images)

Leigh explained: ‘Things change. And then you look back at things, then you talk to friends, and then you go, “Oh, I’ll just apologise for what I did.”

‘It’s weird because you don’t set out with malice or anything. And we didn’t think, “Aren’t we edgy? We’re doing something naughty here.” We just did it because it was silly.

‘And I don’t apologise for Bo’ Selecta, but I apologise for upsetting people that were offended by it.’

Leigh also suggested that characters like Keith Lemon are supposed to be provocative and are to be ‘laughed at and not laughed with.’

He said: ‘And even with people that might have been offended by Keith Lemon, saying he’s misogynistic or something. No, you’re supposed to be. You’re not laughing with him; you’re laughing at him. He’s a fool.

The TV star said the rules of comedy had now ‘changed’ (Picture: Channel 4)

‘He would say things that there’s no way on Earth I would say. But I know people who say such things, and I laugh at them for saying it… You can laugh at people that say horrendous things, I think.’

However, having split opinion over the years with his characters and TV programmes, Leigh admitted that some of the criticism he’s faced has been difficult to stomach.

He admitted: ‘It hurts, doesn’t it? I think anyone saying, “Oh, you’re a bad man” or whatever, you just go, “I’m not,” because I’m too daft.

‘I don’t want to p*** people off, you want to make them laugh. And I think everyone, most comedians, just want to make people laugh.’

Leigh claimed viewers were supposed to be laughing at Keith Lemon (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)

Singer Craig previously lambasted Leigh’s portrayal of him in Bo Selecta as bullying, telling BBC Breakfast: ‘When the Bo Selecta show was out, that period of time was hard processing for me.

‘I didn’t know why a song like Rewind – which was a cultural song that broke the ice for so many artists to come through – was now being ridiculed.’

He continued: ‘That was one thing, that I placed it as a music thing. But actually what [Francis] was doing was slowly bullying not only myself but Mel B [and] Trisha, and I felt there was no real accountability at that time.’

Lorraine Kelly also blasted the cruel impersonation of her in Bo Selecta. Leigh’s take on the TV legend would ask ‘can you see ma growler?’ which she has now called ‘horrible’.

‘I didn’t complain, but I should have,’ she said on the Be Honest podcast with Jojo Sutherland and Bruce Devlin.

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