PRESS ASSOCIATION -- Chat show host Matthew Wright refused to apologise today after hosting a TV debate entitled "Foxy Knoxy: Would Ya?"

The former journalist sparked criticism on Twitter after discussing with panellists how Amanda Knox was "undeniably fit and loves wild sex".

In a preview blurb for this morning's episode of The Wright Stuff, the Channel 5 website said: "So if you were a guy who'd met her in a bar and she invited you back to hers, would you go? I'm being quite serious. Or would something in your brain make you think twice?"

Wright defended his actions after the discussion was branded crass and abysmal by bloggers.

"For the last four years, the world has been more than happy to refer to a woman, then presumed to be a killer, as 'Foxy Knoxy' - something I find appalling," he said.

"I thought it would be interesting to find out if mud sticks, or whether an innocent young woman could now go out and behave in a perfectly normal way. The real disgrace is the Foxy Knoxy epithet."

A Wright Stuff spokeswoman added: "The discussion conducted between Matthew Wright and our panel of Kelly Hoppen, Christopher Biggins and Liz McClarnon was handled extremely sensitively and at no point did we lose sight of the fact that at the heart of the matter is the tragic death of a young girl - Meredith Kercher."

Andrew Livingston, a media rights expert, tweeted: "The Wright Stuff goes with possibly the most crass topic in history."

The TV debate was held as Miss Kercher's distraught family held a press conference and told the world they were "back to square one" after Knox was set free.