‘It was cheap shots’: Craig David once again slams Leigh Francis over ‘racist’ early 2000s sketch show Bo’ Selecta… after comedian told him to ‘move on’
Craig David has slammed Leigh Francis’ for creating a ‘racist’ depiction of him during his Channel 4 sketch series Bo’ Selecta, which aired between 2002 and 2009.
The hitmaker, 41, branded the Celebrity Juice host a ‘bully’ as he commented on their 20-year-feud, which appears to have reignited, over the series.
Leigh carried out impressions of Craig and other celebrities on the show, including Mel B and Trisha Goddard.
And proving there is still tension in the air, it comes just a month after the comedian, who also goes by Keith Lemon, told Craig to ‘move on’ and ‘stop talking about it’.
‘It was cheap shots’: Craig David once again slams Leigh Francis over ‘racist’ early 2000s sketch show Bo’ Selecta… after comedian told him to ‘move on’
Appearing on Elizabeth Day’s How To Fail podcast, Craig detailed the difficult time as he recalled it taking him back to being bullied in school.
Recalling the harrasment he would face as a child, the musician explained: ‘It felt like the universe, god, whatever you want to call it, was saying let’s mirror the same thing that happened to you in school.
‘But now in a way of being somebody in the public eye, we’re gonna emphasise that to the whole world. I couldn’t quite understand why I was feeling the same bullying thing all over again, like I was in school.’
The series title is based on the title of the Artful Dodger and Craig David song ‘Re-Rewind (The Crowd Say Bo Selecta)’ and portrays Craig as an egotistical Yorkshireman who owns a plastic peregrine falcon named Kes.
Controversial: Leigh, also known as Keith Lemon, created the Channel 4 sketch series Bo’ Selecta, which aired between 2002 and 2009 and would show him impersonating celebrities
Portrayal: The series title is based on the title of the Artful Dodger and Craig David song ‘Re-Rewind (The Crowd Say Bo Selecta)’ and portrays Craig as an egotistical Yorkshireman who owns a plastic peregrine falcon named Kes
Claiming that the show was responsible for derailing his pop career because people stopped taking him seriously, Craig continued: ‘I think the most frustrating thing with that series is that it wouldn’t be acceptable now, For me to have gone through ten years of that, it wasn’t just the show, it was the aftermath of the show.
‘I couldn’t understand where the point of bullying was so focused in on me. It was just cheap shots all the time.’
There are many instances of blackface in the sketch show, with Craig adding that his mockery of Mel B and Trisha was ‘blatant racism’.
Continuing: ‘And there were many people being ridiculed. I had a moment on BBC Breakfast speaking about Trisha Goddard and Mel B. It wasn’t just the fact there is three black people on that show and they were being ridiculed, it was racism however you look at that. You put a rubber mask on and you run it like that, you are being racist.’
Traumatic: Appearing on Elizabeth Day’s How To Fail podcast, Craig detailed the difficult time as he recalled it taking him back to being bullied in school
Derailed: Claiming that the show was responsible for derailing his pop career because people stopped taking him seriously, Craig continued: ‘I think the most frustrating thing with that series is that it wouldn’t be acceptable now’
Adding former his taunts of former England captain David Beckham to the list of ‘cheap shots’, Craig recalled Leigh’s mockery over the sound of the sportsman’s voice.
‘These weren’t hypothetical characters, they were real people with lives and feelings, and it was cheap shots, that was the premise of the show.’
Leigh made an apology to Craig, Mel B and Trisha back in June 2020 for the way he caricatured black celebrities, making an agreement with Channel 4 that same year to take the show down from their All 4 streaming platform after deeming those sketches inappropriate for a modern audience.
More stars: There are many instances of blackface in the sketch show, with Craig adding that his mockery of Mel B (left) and Trisha Goddard (right) was ‘blatant racism’
And it seemed that the pair had put things to bed after Leigh recalled bumping into Craig at mutual friend Fearne Cotton’s 2014 wedding.
Speaking to The Sun newspaper’s TV Biz column, the comedian said: ‘The only way it’s ever going to go away from him, if he feels people are going on about it, is to stop talking about it.
‘It’s ages ago, isn’t it? It is, 20 years ago. I wish he wasn’t upset. I bumped into him at Fearne’s wedding and we hugged it out and everything was all nice.’
Apology: Leigh made an apology to Craig, Mel B and Trisha back in June 2020 for the way he caricatured black celebrities, making an agreement with Channel 4 that same year to take the show down from their All 4 streaming platform after deeming those sketches inappropriate for a modern audience
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