Will Young: BBC 'panicked at Thatcher remark'

Will Young: BBC 'panicked at Thatcher remark' (Image credit: EMPICS)

Will Young said the BBC 'panicked' in its decision to axe Carol Thatcher from The One Show after referring to a tennis player as a 'golliwog'. Speaking on Thursday night's BBC programme Question Time, the 30-year-old pop star said: "I don't think it's the right decision. I feel sorry for the BBC because there's a culture of timidity and they really don't know which way to turn." He added: "Carol Thatcher used the word in a private conversation, they panicked. And they say, ‘this is going to get out, have to do something about it quickly, make it public’, and I worry because everything is becoming a bit vanilla." Question Time editor Gill Penlington invited the former Pop Idol winner on to the show during a live radio interview after hearing him speak about his passion for politics and saying how much he enjoyed the current affairs programme on BBC 5 Live. The 30-year-old, whose hits include Leave Right Now and Your Game - said at the time: "As an avid viewer of Question Time, being in the hot seat is something I've always wanted to do. As the day gets closer, rest assured I'll be swotting up on the hot topics." The show was hosted in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, and will be chaired by David Dimbleby. Will, a politics graduate from Exeter University, has gone on to enjoy a successful solo career as a singer and songwriter after winning the Pop Idol reality show in 2002. Get exclusive access to your favourite stars. Subscribe to TV Times magazine

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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.