Ofcom has responded to 'chubby' remark made about Strictly's Tilly Ramsay by issuing advice for LBC presenter Steve Allen.
Ofcom has confirmed that it WON'T be formally investigating LBC's Steve Allen calling Strictly's Tilly Ramsay 'chubby' - despite receiving 860 complaints claiming he had breached "generally accepted standards".
Speaking on his radio show back in October about Tilly, who is chef Gordon Ramsay's daughter, Steve, told listeners, "She can't bloomin' well dance, I'm bored with her already. She's a chubby little thing isn't she, have you noticed? Probably her dad's cooking I should imagine."
But the broadcasting regulator has ruled that the 67-year-old presenter's listeners were used to him being "provocative" on his early morning radio show, and after assessing the complaints, Ofcom has decided not to launch a formal investigation as the comments were brief and not unexpected from Allen.
It added that LBC should take greater care to protect the mental health of young people in the future.
A spokesperson for Ofcom said in a statement, "We have provided guidance to LBC to take greater care in future.
"Given societal concerns about body image pressures on young people, the presenter's criticism of a young woman's appearance could have led to an adverse effect on wellbeing and mental health.
"But given the brevity of the comments and the likely audience's expectations of this provocative presenter and programme, we will not be pursuing further."
At the time of the remark, Tilly Ramsay, who was competing in Strictly Come Dancing 2021 with professional partner Nikita Kuzmin, hit back at the host for his unkind remarks.
On Instagram Tilly Ramsay wrote, 'I try not to read and listen to comments about negativity however recently being called out on a national radio station by a 67-year-old man is a step too far.
'Steve – please feel free [to] voice your opinions, however, I draw the line at commenting on my appearance.
Tilly's post continued, '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 and I accept that and I’m learning to accept myself.’
She warned, ‘But please remember that words can hurt and at the end of the day I am only 19 and I’m so grateful for all the amazing opportunities I have been able to take part in and I understand that being in the public eye obviously comes with its own repercussions and I’ve been aware of this from a young age.’
She added, ‘However I won’t tolerate people that think it’s okay to publicly comment and scrutinise anyone’s weight and appearance. Love Tilly xx.’
Sharing the heartbreaking response, Tilly simply added, ‘#bekind.’
It's understood that after the matter was reported, Steve Allen - who is LBC's longest-serving presenter - reached out to Tilly to offer his personal apologies.
Tilly, who was voted out of Strictly last weekend, has not publicly reacted to Ofcom's ruling.
