JEREMY Clarkson will continue to be the host of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? despite his 'awful' comments about Meghan Markle, an ITV boss has confirmed.
Managing director of ITV studios Kevin Lygo admitted that Clarkson's comments about the Duchess of Sussex were 'awful' but he will remain as the gameshow presenter 'for the moment'.
The confirmation follows widespread criticism of the former Top Gear host's, recent column in The Sun newspaper.
Clarkson, 66, wrote in his column which was published on Friday (December 16) that he hated the Duchess on a "cellular level".
ITV confirms Jeremy Clarkson will stay as Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? host 'for the moment'
He added: "At night, I'm unable to sleep as I lie there, grinding my teeth and dreaming of the day when she is made to parade naked through the streets of every town in Britain while the crowds chant 'Shame!' and throw lumps of excrement at her."
Following its publication, various celebrities and figures including Nicola Sturgeon, John Bishop, Carol Vorderman and his own daughter have condemned the comments.
Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) announced on Tuesday that said the newspaper column has become its most complained about article.
The presenter has since responded to the criticism with a statement on Twitter on Monday, writing:"Oh dear. I’ve rather put my foot in it.
“In a column I wrote about Meghan, I made a clumsy reference to a scene in Game of Thrones and this has gone down badly with a great many people.
“I’m horrified to have caused so much hurt and I shall be more careful in future.”
ITV boss, Lygo spoke at the Broadcasting Press Guild event in London on Tuesday: “I would say what he writes in a newspaper column… We have no control over what he says.
“We hire him as a consummate broadcaster of the most famous quiz on television, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
“So it’s not quite in our wheelhouse but I don’t know what he was thinking when he wrote that. It was awful.”
The managing director continued by confirming that Clarkson would remain as host of the popular gameshow, which he inherited from Chris Tarrant in 2018.
"Yes, at the moment we are,” Lygo replied.
Lygo was then pressed on whether Clarkson represents ITV’s values, he responded: “No, of course he doesn’t in that instance.”
At Clarkson's request, the article has now been removed from The Sun's website.
The article followed the recent broadcast of Harry and Meghan’s explosive six-part Netflix documentary, in which the couple made allegations of mistreatment by the royal family.
