Strictly star Angela Scanlon left furious after BBC boss branded her ‘t*ts and teeth’
NEW Strictly contestant Angela Scanlon spoke of her horror at finding out a telly exec wanted her to be “a bit of glamour” on a family favourite show.
The star, 39, was shocked that the producer wanted to make suggestions for her outfits on BBC Two’s Robot Wars — and described her as “the t*ts and teeth” on the series.
She said: “I remember being absolutely furious. I was like, ‘There is no way in hell I am walking around in an industrial estate for two weeks in a mini-skirt’.”
Scanlon — who presents Your Home Made Perfect on BBC Two — is expected to become a household name on Strictly.
But speaking on the Fashion As A Force For Good podcast last month, she told of her time filming Robot Wars alongside Dara O’Briain from 2016 to 2018.
She said of the producer: “I think in his mind I was the glamour, which was just never a role that I felt. I had a sense at the time but I thought, ‘Maybe I am just being paranoid’. “Then, afterwards, a friend called and was like, ‘How are you getting on? How is everything going?’.
“He said, ‘Just be careful’. I said, ‘Go on’. He said, ‘Well, I interviewed for the job and this person said, ‘So the show is Dara O’Briain and this chick Angela Scanlon — she is the t*ts and teeth.’ He actually said that.
“This was maybe eight years ago. I remember being absolutely furious but really glad that I had been given the heads up because it kind of confirmed my thoughts.”
She explained how the producer then met with her to discuss what she would be wearing during filming for the 2016 series, which was set in a warehouse in Scotland.
“I was like, ‘That is not important’. They said, ‘Yeah I know, I am just thinking we need a bit of glam’. I was like, ‘There is absolutely no way in hell I am walking around in an industrial estate for two weeks in a mini-skirt’.
“It felt so reductive and so presumptuous that I’d arrive with my lippy on and legs out to entertain the lads and that was my value.”
Instead, she wore a denim jumpsuit throughout filming.
In light of the comments, Claire Reindorp, chief exec at the Young Women’s Trust, told The Sun on Sunday: “Discrimination in the workplace is very much alive and well. In our last annual survey, 42 per cent of young women told us that they have faced discrimination and three in ten said that they experienced sexual harassment.”
A BBC spokesperson declined to comment on the matter.
Angela’s remarks are a new embarrassment for the Corporation after it was embroiled in a sexism row in January over its coverage of Jacinda Ardern stepping down as New Zealand PM.
BBC World News tweeted an article with the headline: “Jacinda Ardern resigns: Can women really have it all?” It later deleted the tweet and changed the headline.
Angela, who was born in Co Meath, Ireland, now lives in North London with entrepreneur husband Roy Horgan and their two young daughters.
Since 2016, she has been a host on The One Show in the absence of Alex Jones.
In 2021, she revealed she was “devastated” when her Robot Wars role “fell through” in 2018 after giving birth to her eldest daughter.
But announcing the news of her Strictly role, Angela said on BBC Radio 2: “I’m not particularly fit and have no idea how my pelvic floor is going to react to that level of jumping. I’ve never done any of these dances bar a drunken jive at a family wedding.”
She is set to appear alongside comedian Les Dennis, 69, West End star Layton Williams, 28, and ex-newsreader Angela Rippon, 78.