Former England and Premier League star Dion Dublin was reportedly trained for his role as a BBC TV presenter with £50,000 from a fund that aimed to boost on-screen ethnic minority representation.
Dublin, who earned tens of thousands of pounds a week in a 20-year career at clubs including Manchester United and Aston Villa, is the biggest single beneficiary of the BBC’s Diversity Creative Talent Fund, the Sun reported on Wednesday.
The 47-year-old then joined the team at daytime show Homes Under the Hammer, where he made his debut in April last year.
Despite the BBC training, Dublin he got off to an inauspicious start, with viewers and critics complaining about his abilities.
Early criticism on Twitter prompted Dublin to reply that he would “try and do better” in his new career.
Thanks for your kind words, I will try and do better!! https://t.co/TS7qdI01VE
— Dion Dublin (@DionDublinsDube) April 23, 2015
The BBC’s fund, launched in 2014, provides £2.1m a year to help develop potential talent from ethnic minority groups that are under-represented on TV.
“We’re proud the fund has helped develop a significant number of presenters, writers and producers from ethnic minority backgrounds to make sure that the BBC fully represents the UK,” said a BBC spokesman.
“Money from the fund is used to support training and development of new talent – none has gone to Dion directly.”
The BBC was criticised recently for advertising two scriptwriting traineeships on Holby City for ethnic minority applicants only.
Following his retirement from football Dublin worked as an occasional pundit and commentator for Sky Sports and has also co-presented 606 on BBC Radio 5 Live and football highlights show Match of the Day 2.
