Frank Skinner has claimed that he once got a cameraman sacked for filming up a female colleague's skirt, in an incident he branded “horrible”.
The comedian said that he stepped in after he found the make-up artist, who reportedly worked on the Frank Skinner Show, which aired on both the BBC and ITV between 1995 and 2005, crying.
“He [the cameraman] thought it was funny to put the camera up a make-up woman’s skirt and it got big laughs in the studio. I wasn’t in the studio, but I found her crying in a room and she told me about it,” Skinner, 68, told The Sun.
“I asked around. And because I was a big-time comedian, I was able to say, ‘Well, look, either he goes or I go.’”
He continued: “I don’t want to get anyone sacked, but I did get him sacked. I tell that story not to make myself sound like some big hero and good guy, but just that I had the power and I did something.
“She was being bullied – it was horrible. We didn’t go to the broadcaster, we dealt with it on the shop floor.”
Skinner, who has presented his podcast Frank Off The Radio since October 2024, then questioned how these types of scandals continue to happen. “That’s how a lot of these things could have been dealt with, isn’t it?” he said. “I just find it baffling that nobody has stepped in.”
Skinner’s revelation comes amid the fallout from the MasterChef scandal, where host Gregg Wallace was fired after 45 of 83 allegations of misconduct were upheld in a review against the TV chef.
Wallace issued an apology saying he was “deeply sorry for any distress caused” and that he “never set out to harm or humiliate”.
Meanwhile, one allegation of racist language was upheld against co-host John Torode, who was also sacked and claimed he had “no recollection of the incident” and was “shocked and saddened” by the accusation.
The show returned to the BBC on Wednesday (6 August) with a new series presented by Wallace and Torode that was filmed before they were sacked.
A statement from the broadcaster said it had “not been an easy decision in the circumstances” to air the new season.
The BBC added that “broadcasting this series is the right thing to do for these cooks who have given so much to the process. We want them to be properly recognised and give the audience the choice to watch the series.”
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