Vanessa Feltz accuses Anne Robinson of making ‘racist’ comment about her relationship with singer Ben Ofoedu during filming of Weakest Link celebrity special in 2006

• Host alleged to have asked broadcaster: ‘How do you land big black boyfriends?’
• The moment wasn’t included in the final cut which was broadcast on television
• Feltz called it ‘racist’, ‘completely inaccurate’ and ‘in every way unsuitable’
• Robinson was this week named as the new host of Channel 4 quiz Countdown 

Vanessa Feltz has accused Anne Robinson of making a ‘racist’ comment during an appearance on a celebrity version of the Weakest Link some 15 years ago.

The broadcaster claims the quiz show host, dubbed the Queen of Mean for her cutting quips towards contestants, overstepped the mark when they appeared on screen together in 2006.

Robinson is alleged to have commented on Feltz’s relationship with Anglo-Nigerian singer Ben Ofoedu, asking her: ‘Looking the way you do, how do you think you land all these big black boyfriends?’

Vanessa Feltz has accused Anne Robinson of making a ‘racist’ comment during an appearance on a celebrity version of the Weakest Link some 15 years ago. Pictured: The broadcaster on the show in 2006

Robinson is alleged to have commented on Feltz’s relationship with Anglo-Nigerian singer Ben Ofoedu, asking her: ‘Looking the way you do, how do you think you land all these big black boyfriends?’

The moment wasn’t included in the final cut which was broadcast on TV, with Feltz branding it ‘racist’, ‘completely inaccurate’ and ‘in every way unsuitable’.

She told the Mirror: ‘It was quite a startling thing to be told in the middle of a huge auditorium with a huge audience and lots of other contestants and a huge crew. It wasn’t a private, whispered remark in the toilet, it was part of an enormous television show.

‘I didn’t raise it with anyone afterwards as I knew from my response that it couldn’t be used.’

Her claims were backed up by fellow contestant at the time, drag act Dave Lynn, who said he was left ‘horrified’ by the alleged outburst.  

The row has come to light just days after Robinson was widely criticised after a resurfaced Weakest Link clip emerged in which she shames a single mother for being on benefits and asks if her children have ASBOs. 

Unearthed footage shows the TV presenter, 76, who hosted the show from 2000 to 2012, goading a contestant called Ann about her children, claiming benefits and divorces.

Robinson, who at one point asked whether many of Ann’s children have ‘tags on their ankles’, was branded ‘disgusting’ and ‘cruel’ by viewers.

The clip re-emerged on social media after Robinson was announced as the first female presenter of the long-running show Countdown, and Feltz, 58, who now lives with Ofoedu, 48, in St John’s Wood in the capital, insists she doesn’t want the host to be sacked from her new role.

The row has come to light just days after Robinson was widely criticised after a resurfaced Weakest Link clip emerged in which she shames a single mother for being on benefits and asks if her children have ASBOs

However, the alleged incident was described as ‘clear racism’ by campaigner Weyman Bennett.

Channel 4, which named Robinson the new Countdown host earlier this week, insists it has set out ‘a new and clear commitment to be an anti-racist organisation’.

She takes over from Nick Hewer, who is stepping aside having occupied the hotseat for a decade.

The Mirror reports that C4 declined to comment and Robinson’s representatives did not return requests for a response.

MailOnline has also approached representatives for comment. 

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