Fiona Bruce has apologised after facing criticism for referring to a Question Time audience member as a “black guy”.
During the show’s broadcast on Thursday (6 October), Bruce, 59, was selecting a member of the audience to ask a question to the panel, saying: “The guy there in the middle, the black guy in the middle, yes.”
The comment was quickly edited out of the BBC iPlayer version of the episode and the broadcaster has apologised for the presenter’s choice of words.
In a statement released through the BBC, Bruce said: “I totally understand why my words last night caused offence and I apologise.
“I have spoken to the audience member directly and explained that usually I can see and describe an item of clothing or otherwise to help sound engineers with a microphone find people in the audience.
“Last night that was not the case as my view was obscured.
“In the split second I had, the easiest thing to do would have been to ignore the audience member and move on, but I felt strongly that his voice should be heard.
“Nonetheless, I feel it was wrong to identify him as I did and that’s why it was removed from the later edited programme.”
Fiona Bruce on ‘Question Time’— (BBC)
Appearing on the panel at the time were transport minister Richard Holden, shadow paymaster general Jonathan Ashworth, writer Emma Dabiri, the executive chairman of Iceland supermarket, Richard Walker, and journalist and author Tony Parsons.
A BBC spokesperson said: “We regret the choice of words used to identify the audience member.
“The intent was to ensure his voice was heard, however we recognise we should not have identified him in this way and apologise for any offence caused.
“As such the recorded version on iPlayer has been edited to remove this.
“The show had been broadcast live at 8pm on Thursday on BBC iPlayer, and the recorded version, which was edited to remove the words, was broadcast on BBC One and is the version now available on BBC iPlayer.”
Bruce has hosted Question Time since 2019, when she took over from long-serving host David Dimbleby.
During Thursday’s episode, Bruce was also forced to address why she was wearing a sling and had the “remnants of a black eye”.
“I thought I’d just mention it – it is the least interesting thing in the programme – but in case you’re wondering I broke my hand, and I have got the remnants of a black eye, because I fell off a horse,” she said.
Additional reporting from PA
