The BBC presenter Stephen Nolan is facing fresh scrutiny over claims one of his shows planted staff members in the audience to stir on-air rows.
The Irish News reported that staffers sat among the audience of the BBC Northern Ireland show Nolan Live to identify “feisty” contributors. Nolan’s team allegedly used the codename “ra ra” for on-air arguments and referred to a section of the audience as the “bear pit”.
A spokesperson for the Social and Democratic Labour party (SDLP) said the BBC should investigate the “very serious” allegations. “If it is true that members of a programme’s production team were posing as audience members in a live televised broadcast to generate specific, pre-planned lines of debate or attack against guests then it would fall far below the standards expected of a public broadcaster.”
In a statement to the Guardian on Thursday the BBC cast doubt on the allegations and said editorial guidelines were applied consistently across all programmes.
“The claims that have been made about BBC staff contributing to Nolan Live discussions whilst pretending to be members of the public are highly improbable,” it said.
“We are aware of no evidence to support such allegations or the breach of editorial controls that they would have involved. If such information is made available to us (and it hasn’t been to date) then it will be quickly and thoroughly investigated – just as our audiences would expect.”
The statement continued: “The basic requirement is that claims must be factual in order to be true, and this is the test that we will apply. We take pride in the integrity of BBC programmes and the trust that audiences have in our work.”
This week the Irish News reported that Nolan, one of the corporation’s highest-paid presenters, sent sexually explicit images to colleagues and was the subject of a bullying claim that was not upheld. Unionist and nationalist politicians urged the BBC to provide a full response to the allegations.
In a statement the corporation said it had to consider fairness and confidentiality when handling any workplace-related complaint and could not comment on the specifics of any individual case. Nolan has made no public comment about the allegations.
It is also alleged Nolan team members circulated derogatory comments about politicians. Lawyers representing Martina Anderson, a former Sinn Féin Stormont minister, have asked the BBC to supply personal data it holds relating to Anderson, a request made under the Data Protection Act.
Nolan, 49, presents radio and television shows on BBC Radio Ulster, BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Northern Ireland. He was paid between £400,000 and £404,999 in 2022-23, making him the fifth-best-paid BBC on-air presenter after Gary Lineker, Zoe Ball, Alan Shearer and Huw Edwards.
Nolan’s shows often set the agenda in Northern Ireland with investigations and combative interviews. Sinn Féin has boycotted his Radio Ulster show for several years. The SDLP followed suit in March, citing concern about editorial balance, after Nolan halted an interview with the party’s Stormont assembly member Matthew O’Toole.
