BBC Children's Presenters Banned From Wearing Red Lipstick And Sexy Clothes

BBC Children's Presenters Banned From Wearing Red Lipstick And Sexy Clothes
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BBC presenter Dionne Bromfield

Children's TV presenters have been banned by the BBC from wearing red lipstick or looking 'too sexy' on air.

Hosts including former Blue Peter star Helen Skelton and CBBC presenter Dionne Bromfield have been told they must be 'fantastic female role models' and avoid dressing in provocative outfits.

Melissa Hardinge – who is an executive editor at the corporation's children's channel CBBCsaid: "Obviously sexualisation of girls is something we take incredibly seriously. We try and show fantastic female role models.

"I go onto the floor of Friday Download and make them take their red lipstick off, the presenters.

"The older end of our six to 12 age groups are very interested in relationships, and we have to show positive role models and the correct way of going about having relationships."

When asked whether the BBC pays attention to what female presenters wear, Melissa said: "We take that very seriously.

"We know that a lot of young girls will look at how our presenters are dressed, and no they shouldn't look too sexy."

Friday Download is an hour-long weekly show that has s a panel of hosts including singer Miss Bromfield and actress Shannon Flynn, both 17, and features a mixture of pop music, film news and style advice.

Mrs Hardinge was talking at a BAFTA panel event on the future of children's television, where she revealed she takes swearing guidelines so carefully she once spent 20 minutes discussing the word 'fart'.

She said: "The problem is that certain words in some families are fine, and some are not. I have sat in editorial forums at the BBC where we have spent 20 minutes talking about whether the word 'fart' is acceptable or not. It depends on the context and whether you can use a euphemism."