EastEnders star suspended by BBC after disabled slur on Strictly set
By Jordan Reynolds, PA
EastEnders star Jamie Borthwick has been suspended by the BBC after using a disabled slur on the Strictly Come Dancing set.
A video emerged of the actor, who plays Jay Brown on the soap, using the term to describe the people of Blackpool, the town where the show was being filmed, The Sun on Sunday first reported.
Borthwick is said to have made the offensive remark on a phone video while the Strictly cast were at Blackpool Tower Ballroom last November.
A spokesperson for the BBC said: “This language is entirely unacceptable and in no way reflects the values or standards we hold and expect at the BBC.
“We have robust processes in place for this.”
Warren Kirwan, media manager at disability equality charity Scope, said: “Attitudes and language like this are never acceptable.
“It’s not just ignorant and hurtful to disabled people, it has wider consequences.
“Negative attitudes hold disabled people back in all areas of life, from getting a job to shopping on the high street.
“Mr Borthwick needs to reflect on what he said, educate himself and do better.
“We hope he takes the opportunity to get to know the reality of disabled people’s lives.”
Borthwick won the Strictly 2023 Christmas special with Nancy Xu, and won the best actor gong at the Inside Soap Awards in September that year, with the show recognised with the best storyline for Loving And Losing Lola, about character Lola Pearce-Brown’s brain tumour diagnosis.
As part of the storyline, Borthwick, as Lola’s husband Jay, and Emma Barton, as Honey Mitchell, ran the London Marathon in character in honour of Lola after her death.
His suspension comes after Wynne Evans last week said he had been dropped by the BBC, following an apology saying that he used “inappropriate language” during the launch of the Strictly Come Dancing tour.
The Welsh opera singer, 53, known for the Go.Compare insurance ments, will no longer be a BBC Radio Wales presenter, he announced on May 30.
Earlier this year, he apologised for language that he called “inappropriate and unacceptable” after The Mail On Sunday reported that Evans was heard making a remark to a woman in a video filmed during the Strictly launch event.
It is understood he was given a warning over the remark by tour producers.
In January, he said: “I’ve agreed with the BBC that I’ll take some time out from my radio show and the Strictly Live tour, as well as my other public commitments, to prioritise my wellbeing.
“I am deeply sorry for the pain my inappropriate actions have caused, and plan to take this time for self-reflection.
“Apologies to those I won’t get to see at the remaining performances and I’m grateful to my fellow tour gang for all the amazing they have given me.”
The singer, who performed in the 25th anniversary of The Phantom Of The Opera and also won 2023’s Celebrity MasterChef, told The Sun on Sunday earlier this month that the Strictly comment was not sexual or directed at one of the female cast but was a nickname for fellow contestant Borthwick.
He told the paper: “I didn’t see the statement, Old Spit-roast Boy was a nickname for Jamie Borthwick. I’m not a bad guy, I’m not a misogynist, I’m not any of these things.”
Evans added: “And so I went, ‘I’m so sorry’. And that was taken as a formal apology, so the press team issued a statement. I didn’t see it.
“When I read the apology within the context of the story as it had been written, I was absolutely horrified.”
The Strictly tour saw contestants of the most recent series return to the dancefloor, including Love Island star Tasha Ghouri, actress Sarah Hadland, JLS singer JB Gill, The X Factor winner Shayne Ward and Gladiators star Montell Douglas.
They toured the country alongside Strictly judges Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke, Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse, performing in cities including Birmingham, Sheffield, Newcastle, Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester and London.
