John Barrowman has addressed the controversy surrounding allegations he exposed himself to fellow Doctor Who cast members.
The actor recently admitted to “tomfoolery” on the set of the BBC show after a 2015 video from a fan convention was unearthed, in which co-star Noel Clarke alleged that he took “his d*** out every five minutes”.
At one point in the clip, Clarke asks his co-star Camille Coduri whether she remembers “that time he put it on your shoulder in the makeup truck?” to which she responds: “Yes, I do.”
Last month, Barrowman, 54, said that he has evolved in the years since, adding that his “high-spirited behaviour” was “only ever intended in good humour to entertain colleagues on set and backstage”.
He continued: “With the benefit of hindsight, I understand that upset may have been caused by my exuberant behaviour and I have apologised for this previously.”
Barrowman has now thanked his fans for their support amid a Sun report that his job as a judge on ITV contest Dancing on Ice is jeopardy.
“I just want to say thank you very much to everybody who has reached out with the countless messages of support over the last few weeks,” he said in a video posted to Instagram.
He said he was “touched” by the messages he had received from those “standing by him” after the controversy.
“Hopefully we will be back together soon,” he added.
In 2008, Barrowman apologised after pulling down his trousers during an interview with BBC Radio 1, saying that he had joined in “the light-hearted and fun banter of the show” but “went too far”.
In the recent statement, which he shared with The Guardian, Barrowman reiterated his stance, saying: “Since my apology in November 2008, my understanding and behaviour have also changed.”
Julie Gardner, an executive producer on Doctor Who and Torchwood, also confirmed to The Guardian that she had received a complaint about Barrowman’s on-set behaviour “around 2008”.
“I met with John and reprimanded him [to] make it clear to both John and his agent that behaviour of this kind would not be tolerated,” Gardner said, adding that she also spoke to the show’s other executive producers and the head of BBC drama commissioning. “To my knowledge, John’s inappropriate behaviour stopped thereafter.”
Barrowman’s Torchwood co-star Gareth David-Lloyd jumped to the actor’s defence, stating: “He would have never behaved in a way he thought was affecting someone negatively.”
