Leigh Francis made his Bo' Selecta' apology after being confronted by Trisha Goddard.
Leigh Francis
The 47-year-old comedian - who is best known for starring as character Keith Lemon in numerous TV shows - recently took to Instagram to share a video of himself saying sorry for his portrayals of black celebrities such as Craig David, Michael Jackson and Trisha on the 2002 programme.
And it has now been revealed that the tearful apology was issued after Trisha accused him of hypocrisy for showing his support for the Black Lives Matter movement last week.
According to The Sun newspaper, she said: "It emboldened a lot of casual racism towards myself and others you parodied with big lips and noses.
"It would be a very powerful gesture for you to recognise what part you played in perpetuating blackface."
Trisha also revealed she felt "hurt, distaste and disgust" at Leigh's portrayal of her and other black celebrities and her children told him they had been bullied because of his treatment of Trisha on the show, which ran from 2002 to 2004.
Trisha's daughter Billie, 30, thanked Lee for his apology and said it was "100 per cent the right thing to do".
Leigh was in tears as he issued his apology via Instagram, saying: "My name's Leigh Francis I play a character called Keith Lemon on television.
"It's been a weird few days, I've sat and thought about things and what I could post to help things.
"Back in 2002, I did a show called 'Bo' Selecta'. I portrayed many black people. Back then I didn't think anything about it, people didn't say anything, I'm not going to blame other people.
"I've been talking to some people, I didn't realise how offensive it was back then.
"I just want to apologise, I just want to say sorry for any upset I caused, whether I was Michael Jackson, Craig David, Trisha Goddard, all people I'm a big fan of. I guess we're all on a learning journey."
The 'Celebrity Juice' presenter said he was "deeply sorry" for any offence he caused on 'Bo' Selecta'.
He captioned the video: "Following recent events, I've done a lot of talking and learning and I would like to put this out there. I want to apologise to anyone that was offended by Bo'selecta. I'm on a constant journey of knowledge and just wanted to say I'm deeply sorry. #blacklivesmatter (sic)"
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