Sir Ian Botham has threatened to never speak to the BBC again after his recent Radio 5 Live interview turned sour.
The former cricketer was talking to show host Rachel Burden about his plans to tackle food poverty by donating birds from his shooting estates to charity. But the conversation got prickly when Burden highlighted the concerns people may have with the shooting of birds for sport.
The former England cricketer told the Times: “I will never be speaking to the BBC again in any capacity unless something significant comes of this complaint.
“BBC 5 Live asked me to talk about a charity that is trying to do some good. I agreed in good faith, thinking everyone would want to support our efforts to help people in need.”
In case you missed it the other day, here’s a little taster of how their conversation went...
The call-in caused quite the debate on social media, with many branding Botham “rude” and “confrontational”.
Whereas some supported the claim Botham made on air that Burden had an “agenda” in her line of questioning.
Botham told the Times after the interview: “The BBC lured me on to their show under false pretences and ambushed me with their anti-shooting agenda”.
However the BBC defended their stance, saying in a statement: “The interview was fair. We asked a broad range of relevant questions and gave him the fullest opportunity to respond on air.”