LBC stands by Steve Allen over Tilly Ramsay fat-shaming

Steve Allen is SAFE (for now)! LBC resist calls to sack controversial host for fat-shaming Strictly star Tilly Ramsay amid claims rivals at station want him gone

• Steve Allen told LBC listeners that Strictly’s Tilly Ramsay is a ‘chubby little thing’
• 67-year-old has faced backlash but LBC is said to be resisting calls to sack him
• There are some within LBC who want him to stay, while others want him to quit 
• Latest Strictly Come Dancing 2021 news on Series 30 judges, dancers and contestants here

LBC bosses today stood by their presenter Steve Allen after he described Strictly Come Dancing teenager Tilly Ramsay as a ‘chubby little thing’ live on air.

Allen, 67, has faced huge pressure to quit after saying he was bored with the 19-year-old CBBC host, daughter of chef Gordon Ramsay, and criticised her weight.

He told listeners on Wednesday: ‘She can’t bloody well dance. I’m bored with her already. She’s a chubby little thing isn’t she, have you noticed?’ Referring to Gordon Ramsay, he added: ‘Probably her dad’s cooking I should imagine.’

MailOnline understands that LBC is resisting calls to sack Allen and he is expected to present his early morning show from 4am until 7am next Monday as normal. Allen was back on air yesterday and today and is set to be on for the whole of next week.

Bosses at LBC have no plans at this stage to conduct an enquiry into Allen’s comments and, for the time being, have not responded to calls for his sacking.

Following the end of his programme this morning, which is broadcast from London’s Leicester Square, Allen avoided waiting photographers as he left the building.

An insider told MailOnline that there are some within LBC who want him to stay, while others are behind calls for Allen to quit because they see him as a ‘dinosaur’.

The insider added that Allen ‘gets on well’ with LBC hosts Eddie Mair and Nick Ferrari and was ‘well thought of in the industry’ by breakfast presenters on other stations. 

Steve Allen (left), 67, has faced huge pressure to quit after saying he was bored with 19-year-old Tilly Ramsay (right), daughter of chef Gordon Ramsay, and criticised her weight

Tilly Ramsay has been paired with Nikita Kuzmin on this year’s Strictly Come Dancing 

Neither LBC nor Ofcom have confirmed whether any complaints have been made, with an Ofcom spokesman telling MailOnline: ‘We are assessing the complaints against our broadcasting rules, but are yet to decide whether or not to investigate.’ 

It comes after another source told The Sun: ‘Steve’s outdated and archaic comments have been allowed to continue for far too long and plenty of people want him out.

Many controversies of LBC host Steve Allen

The ongoing row between Steve Allen and Tilly Ramsay is the latest spat the LBC host has been involved in. 

A scan of his Twitter shows a bizarre feud with reality TV star Gemma Collins, whose weight he frequently criticised and who he described as ‘a beach hut’.

He made similar comments about TV personality Sally Jacks, who he said was ‘fat like you can’t believe’. 

Ms Jacks replied to the tweet to reveal she was struggling to shed baby weight.  

Back in 2018, he was rapped by Ofcom after he mocked a blind journalist who became the first person in the UK to use a miniature guide horse. 

Mohammed Salim Patel from Blackburn, Lancashire, was using two-year-old American miniature horse Digby because of his fear of dogs – until the horse grew too big. 

In a broadcast on October 1, Allen said he’d ‘never heard of anything so stupid’ while discussing a story on Digby.

He also said on air: ‘Well if he’s blind, tell him it’s a rabbit or something. I’ve never heard of anything so stupid.

‘This is the blind man scared of dogs hoping that a horse will guide him on his commute. Where are you going to take that for goodness sake?’

In December, communications regulator Ofcom upheld a complaint that the comments had been offensive. 

In 2015, LBC was given a warning from Ofcom after Allen made comments about ‘beating up’ London Tube workers. 

Allen said: ‘I think we should go round and start beating up tube people, the people that bring them all out on strike.’ 

In 2017, Ofcom also received complaints after Allen said: ‘Why do we have to start being nice to travellers? Every time I read a story in the newspaper its either thieving, robbing or brawling… what is the matter with them?’ 

And in the same year, Ofcom found him in breach of the code for making discriminatory comments about people from Portugal.  

‘There’s free speech and then there is calling a teenage girl fat live on the radio. Plenty of people think it’s time he was given his marching orders because this isn’t the first time he’s made unacceptable comments on air and hasn’t been reprimanded.

‘He should issue an apology at the least – but people want him gone. He’s bringing the reputation of the station down.’

Miss Ramsay, 19, said she will not tolerate those who criticise her weight.

‘I try not to read and listen to comments and negativity, however recently being called out on a national radio station by a 67-year-old man is a step too far,’ she wrote on Instagram.

‘It’s such a shame that someone is trying to make such a positive experience negative. This isn’t the first and definitely won’t be the last comment made about my appearance… but please remember that words can hurt.’

Miss Ramsay, who is paired with Nikita Kuzmin, said she knows there are ‘repercussions’ from being in the public eye, adding: ‘However I won’t tolerate people that think it’s okay to publicly comment and scrutinise anyone’s weight and appearance.’

Talking about who may want Allen out, a veteran radio industry insider told MailOnline today it would be those at LBC who are ‘slightly more progressive, and they may regard Steve as a dinosaur’.

He added that Mair and Ferrari both ‘get on very well’ with Allen, and that it was unlikely either of them would want him out.

The insider continued:  ‘I think that there’s always been this suggestion that because he’s been there 20 years that he’s a bit of a dinosaur and he’s had his day and there’s been a number of Ofcom complaints about him. 

‘But there was dissatisfaction with Nigel Farage when he was on LBC and that was from the James O’Brien stable. But I’m not sure if this falls into the same category.

‘I’m not particularly a fan but I know he has a massive following and if he were to disappear from the airwaves I think there’d be quite an outcry.’

He added that there was a possibility Allen could retire soon, saying: ‘That might probably be the outcome and I was thinking this morning maybe there’s a conversation going on saying ‘Steve, you’re in your 60s, perhaps it’s time to go and hit the beach’ – maybe that conversation is taking place.’

The insider continued: ‘I think it’s quite strange that there hasn’t been an apology, because it seems to me that Steve is saying why should I apologise?

‘I think everyone’s tolerated him, but I think the moment something like this happens people draw up battle lines.

‘A lot of breakfast show presenters listen to Steve Allen on their way to work because they think he’s a good presenter, he’s well thought of in the industry.’

He added that there were no guarantees that Ofcom would find against Allen, saying he did not think the ‘she’s a chubby little thing’ would break any broadcasting rules.

Strictly stars have supported Miss Ramsay after the comments made by Steve Allen (above)

An industry insider added that Allen ‘gets on well’ with LBC hosts Eddie Mair (left) and Nick Ferrari (right) and is ‘well thought of in the industry’ by breakfast presenters on other stations

He said: ‘They have to balance freedom of expression with causing offensive, and I’m not sure that ‘chubby’ is one of the prohibited words. And even if it is, within a broadcasting code there is 2.1 which is called ‘generally accepted standards’.

‘It’s their catch all, so if there’s a lot of complaints they will judge it by that standard – so I’m not sure this would be upheld by Ofcom. People are allowed to offend other people, it’s not against the broadcasting code.’

Strictly stars have supported Miss Ramsay on social media. Janette Manrara called her a ‘powerful young lady’ while Dianne Buswell said she was ‘so brave to speak up’.

Giovanna Fletcher, whose husband Tom Fletcher is paired with Amy Dowden on the current series, branded Allen ‘irrelevant’.

Giovanni Pernice called his comments ‘nasty’ while John Whaite, who is in the show’s first same-sex couple with Johannes Radebe, wrote: ‘He’s a piece of old sandpaper love, worn and used and has nothing to offer the world.

‘And his vicious scratching has only left you polished and more fabulous. Love you.’

Former Love Island star Dr Alex George, a passionate advocator for mental health who lost his younger brother to suicide, encouraged his two million followers to email LBC if they are ‘unhappy’ about Allen’s ‘absolutely disgraceful’ comments.

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