We won’t be seeing Paul O’Grady appear on ‘The One Show’ anytime soon, because, according to the TV favourite, he’s banned.
The 60-year-old has revealed he hasn’t been asked back ever since he spoke out about the Channel 4 series ‘Benefits Street’, when he appeared on the BBC show two years ago.
At the time, Paul described the the cast as ‘sacrificial lambs’ who were being exploited to ‘get middle England up in arms’.
Speaking at the Hampstead Literary festival, he said: “I was banned from The One Show for kicking off.”
Paul went on to describe presenters Alex Jones and Matt Baker as ‘squeaky clean’
"I always feel like an old slapper when I go on that because they are so squeaky clean,” he added. “They are so earnest and lovely.”
“Matt is a vicar’s son brought up on a farm and there is me brought up on the Dock Road in Birkenhead.
"They are so lovely but they always ask me a contentious question.
"I tell them 'Don’t ask me anything about Boris Johnson, the government or anything. I am happy to talk about mohair sweaters and bath salts and anything else you want to talk about'.
"Of course, I kick off and there is murder about it and they are like 'We won’t have Paul for a few months, until the heat dies down and until the villagers with the burning torches have gone away'."
Paul has his own show on BBC Radio 2, but says he refuses to stay loyal to the Beeb.
He added: “There is no point being loyal to any channel, really. I am a freelancer. I don’t want a golden handshake deal, because then you can do what you like.”
However, despite Paul's claims, a BBC spokesperson insisted the former Lily Savage star was welcome back on 'The One Show' at anytime.
“We haven’t banned Paul from the One Show – in fact he’s been on a few times since the appearance mentioned here, and we’re looking forward to having him on the sofa again in the next few weeks so he can wax lyrical on the topics of his choice,” a Beeb spokesperson told The Huffington Post UK.
Last year, Ofcom investigated 'The One Show', following jokes made by guest Jimmy Carr on the programme.
Jimmy made two jokes about “dwarves”, which were met with an uncomfortable silence from the show’s presenters and Jimmy’s fellow guest Rod Stewart.
He said: “I tried to write the shortest joke possible. So, I wrote a two-word joke which was: 'Dwarf shortage.' It's just so I could pack more jokes into the show.”
Turning to the camera, he added: “If you're a dwarf and you're offended by that, grow up.”
Prior to that, Jeremy Clarkson was forced to apologise for his comment on show when he said that people who took part in the public sector national strike “should be shot”.