‘It emboldened a lot of casual racism’: Trisha Goddard reveals she accepted a tearful apology from Leigh Francis… after daughters were bullied over her blackface depiction on Bo’ Selecta!
- The Channel 4 series, which aired between 2002 and 2006, featured Francis portraying a series of stars; including Michael Jackson, Craig David and Trisha
- Last week, Leigh – known for his character Keith Lemon – apologised for his offensive characterisation amid the Black Lives Matter movement
- Trisha revealed the show left her feeling ‘hurt, distaste and disgust’ when her children Madison, 27, and Billie, 30, were bullied over her appearance
- Leigh was among the 25m people who took part in Blackout Tuesday on social media for Black Lives Matter, following the senseless death of George Floyd
- George, 46, an African-American man, died on May 25 after a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes in Minneapolis
Trisha Goddard has accepted a tearful apology from Leigh Francis following his racist depiction of her on his Noughties show Bo’ Selecta!
The TV icon, 62, revealed she has received a personal message from the Celebrity Juice star, 47, just days after his breakdown on Instagram amid the Black Lives Matter movement, in which he lamented his inclusion of black characters.
The Channel 4 series, which aired between 2002 and 2006, featured Francis portraying a series of celebrities; including Michael Jackson, Craig David and Trisha by wearing face masks to impersonate them.
Shocking: Trisha Goddard has accepted a tearful apology from Leigh Francis following his racist depiction of her on his Noughties show Bo’ Selecta! (Trisha, pictured last month)
Last week, Keith Lemon star Leigh revealed he had a ‘rubbish’ day, hours after he apologised for his ‘offensive’ Bo’ Selecta! characters he portrayed using blackface.
He took to Instagram on Thursday evening to say he was ‘deeply sorry’ for the way he impersonated stars such as Michael Jackson and Craig David on the show.
Trisha went on to tell The Sun that the show left her feeling ‘hurt, distaste and disgust’ when her children Madison, 27, and Billie, 30, who she shares with ex Mark Greive, were bullied over the show and its image of their mother.
She said: ‘It emboldened a lot of casual racism towards myself and others you parodied with big lips and noses. It would be a very powerful gesture for you to recognise what part you played in perpetuating blackface.’
Heartache: The TV icon, 62, revealed she has received a personal message from the Celebrity Juice star, 47, just days after his breakdown on Instagram amid the Black Lives Matter movement, in which he lamented his inclusion of black characters (Leigh, pictured last week)
How does it look? He took to Instagram on Thursday evening to say he was ‘deeply sorry’ for the way he impersonated stars such as Michael Jackson and Craig David on the show
She has now accepted his apology, while Billie thanked Leigh and said his declaration and said: ‘It was 100 per cent the right thing to do’.
Leigh sent a private apology to Trisha and in an emotional Instagram video said: ‘I didn’t realise how offensive it was. I just want to say sorry for any upset I caused whether I was Michael Jackson, Craig David, Trisha Goddard.’
In light of awareness being raised in regards to the Black Lives Matters movement, Leigh tearfully admitted it made him rethink and said he simply ‘didn’t realise how offensive it was back then’.
Protective: Trisha went on to tell The Sun that the show left her feeling ‘hurt, distaste and disgust’ when her children Madison, 27, and Billie, 30, were bullied over the show and its image of their mother (Madison, 27, and Billie, 30, pictured in 2006)
Leigh captioned the post: ‘I want to apologise to anyone that was offended by Bo’selecta. I’m on a constant journey of knowledge and just wanted to say I’m deeply sorry. #blacklivesmatter”
In the video, the Celebrity Juice host said: ‘My name’s Leigh Francis. I play a character called Keith Lemon on television. It’s been a weird few days, I’ve sat and thought about things and what I could post to help things.
‘Back in 2002, I did a show called Bo’ Selecta, I portrayed many black people. Back then I didn’t think anything about it, people didn’t say anything- I’m not going to blame other people.
Noughties show: The series featured Francis portraying a series of celebrities; including Michael Jackson (pictured)
‘I’ve been talking to some people. I didn’t realise how offensive it was back then.
‘I just want to apologise, I just want to say sorry for any upset I caused whether I was Michael Jackson, Craig David, Trisha Goddard, all people I’m a big fan of. I guess we’re all on a learning journey.’
Leigh was among the 25m people who took part in Blackout Tuesday on social media for the Black Lives Matter movement, following the senseless death of George Floyd.
Characterisation: Leigh portrayed a series of stars as well as portraying the main, non-celebrity character, Avid Merrion
George, 46, an African-American man, died on May 25 after a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes in Minneapolis. His death has sparked days of demonstrations across the nation over police brutality against African-Americans.
The Minneapolis policeman accused of killing Floyd, Derek Chauvin, was taken into custody Friday and charged with second-degree murder, officials said.
Black Lives Matter, which was first founded in 2013 following the acquittal of George Zimmerman and was nationally recognized for its involvement in the Ferguson protests in 2014 has been galvanized once more following the death of Floyd.
Great loss: The movement comes after the death of African-American George Floyd, 46, last week, who passed away after Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for several minutes before he died from asphyxiation
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