A Bristol carpenter caught up in a Twitter storm over his facial tattoos has "no affiliations or links to racist groups", according to Sky.
Darren Lumsden is currently appearing in the Sky History show The Chop, where contestants are competing to be crowned Britain's Top Woodworker.
The first episode aired last week but a clip the channel shared on Twitter on Monday, October 19 dubbing him "the one with all the tattoos" has since sparked a backlash.
People hit out at Mr Lumsden's facial tattoo of the number 88.
Sky has today (Tuesday, October 20) released a statement saying Mr Lumsden's tattoo is in memory of his father who died in 1988. The statement came after Twitter users pointed out the number is also a code used by white supremacists to mean Heil Hitler.
Sky History said: "Darren’s tattoos denote significant events in his life and have no political or ideological meaning whatsoever.
"Amongst the various numerical tattoos on his body, 1988 is the year of his father’s death.
"The production team carried out extensive background checks on all the woodworkers taking part in the show, that confirmed Darren has no affiliations or links to racist groups, views or comments.
"Sky HISTORY is intolerant of racism and all forms of hatred and any use of symbols or numbers is entirely incidental and not meant to cause harm or offence."
In an earlier interview with Bristol Live Darren, who lives in Portishead, did not shy away from the fact his tattoos have shocked people over the years.
He started having his head and face tattooed around 10 years ago, and said: “I had other tattoos already.
“But about 10 years ago I saw someone with facial tattoos and started to work with my tattooist on my look.
“I have my daughter on the back of my head and my son on my cheek.
“When some people first meet me they are a bit shocked, admittedly.
“But they soon warm to me after a few minutes."
