Ofcom has confirmed that it will be investigating Scott Mills’s Radio 1 show, following a string of jokes about “Essex girls” which aired last month.
Last month, Scott and fellow presenter Chris Stark took part in a ‘24-Hour LOLathon’ in a bid to raise money for Comic Relief, during which ‘TOWIE’ star Bobby Norris dropped by to try and put a smile on their faces.
However, his “Essex girl” jokes rubbed some listeners up the wrong way, with many complaining to Ofcom that they were derogatory and sexist in nature.
Scott prefaced the jokes by insisting to listeners: “Before anyone complains, this is a person from Essex, living in Essex on a show about Essex.”
Following this, Bobby delivered a string of jokes including, “what’s the first thing an Essex girl does in the morning? Goes home”, “What does an Essex girl say after her doctor tells her she is pregnant? ‘Is it mine?’” and “Why does an Essex girl wear knickers? To keep her ankles warm”.
Media watchdog Ofcom has now revealed that they’ll be investigating the jokes, after two listeners complained.
They said in a statement (via BBC News): “Several ‘Essex girl’ jokes were broadcast which listeners felt were sexist and derogatory.
“We’re investigating whether this programme breached our rules on generally accepted standards.”
Radio 1 responded: “No offence was intended by the jokes that were broadcast during Radio 1’s ‘24-hour LOLathon’ to raise money for Comic Relief.”
There has been much debate around the term ‘Essex girl’ in recent times, with ‘TOWIE’ star Gemma Collins appearing on Sky News to insist that the dictionary definition of the term should be changed.
She said at the time: “We can all take a laugh and a joke at ourselves Kay, you know we’re up for the banter, but it is very, very derogatory what has been said about us and it does need to be changed.”
Curiously, she also insisted she was a “massive fan” of the dictionary, but it should be “paying everybody in Essex some compensation”.
