After referring to a female Australian cricketer as “little Barbie” during a match interview earlier this week, the BBC informed the presenter that his remark was “not appropriate.”
On Tuesday, after Maitlan Brown said her Southern Brave team had bonded by playing a practice game and going to the movies to see “Barbie,” presenter Chris Hughes made the remark to the athlete.
With your blue eyes, Hughes remarked, “You’re a little Barbie yourself,” adding, “She’s blushing now.”
In a statement provided on Thursday, a BBC representative said: “We have spoken to Chris and explained that his comment was inappropriate”.
The Trent Rockets were defeated by the Braves and all-rounder Brown’s team in the opening game of “The Hundred,” a franchise cricket competition with a UK base, by a score of 27 runs.
Hughes, who gained notoriety in 2017 as a participant on the reality dating program “Love Island,” will present “The Hundred” for the BBC. Hughes has also contributed to ITV’s coverage of horse racing.
His remarks about Brown drew backlash on social media.
Hughes is “young enough to know better,” according to LBC host Nick Ferrari, while a Twitter user wrote: “Had to rewind to make sure I had it right. It took some time to travel back a few decades, but there it was (sic)”.
