Channel 5’s ‘Jeremy Vine’ is to face an investigation from Ofcom, after a caller dropped the c-bomb during a recent phone-in.
Last month, Anne Diamond was filling in for regular host Jeremy Vine when one viewer phoned in and branded her a “fat c***” live on the air, prompting some to complain to Ofcom as the slur aired uncensored in the middle of the morning.
In a statement, the media regulator has now said they will be taking the matter further and “investigating whether this programme broke our rules on offensive language”.
The phone call, with a viewer known solely as “Chris” was abruptly terminated after the c-bomb aired last month, with Anne telling those watching at home: “Right. I do apologise for that creeping in on air. Isn’t it amazing how sometimes people can let you down? There’s always one...”
Prior to rebranding as ‘Jeremy Vine’, the topical panel show was known as ‘The Wright Stuff’, which became infamous for its many prank callers, many of whom would attempt to goad host Matthew Wright with obscene messages.
It wasn’t all bad, though, as he once received a surprise call from George Michael, who weighed in on a story the panel had been discussing about his personal life (though he did actually end up swearing live on air himself).
Jeremy Vine hosted his first show at the helm of the Channel 5 panel show in September, where his first guest was Roxanne Pallett, who had recently left the ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ house embroiled in a media storm.
‘Jeremy Vine’ airs every weekday on Channel 5.
