Sean Hughes
Comedian Sean Hughes thinks that the BBC's ban on all-male panel shows is "disgraceful".
Hughes - who spent ten series as a team captain on BBC Two music quiz show 'Never Mind the Buzzcocks' - is shocked by Director of BBC Television Danny Cohen's recent ban on all-male panels on its comedy shows, insisting it is disrespectful to women.
Sean exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "It's inverted sexism in itself. They could have had a quiet word with producers and said, 'Try to get some more women on.' But making a grand statement like that was disrespectful to women."
Hughes thinks Cohen's ruling will actually be damaging, because it will lead to doubt among many female comedians about why they have been asked to appear on programmes.
He added: "Now if women are on a show they're going to be thinking, 'Am I here for the quota or am I here because I'm funny?'
"I think it's disgraceful to go about things like that."
There has been a huge backlash since Cohen earlier this year that at least one woman would be included in all their panel shows. Hughes, 48, is adamant gender in a comedy show line-up is irrelevant.
The comic - who hosts 'The Sean Hughes Show' on Sundays at 12:00 on FUBAR radio and is currently touring his 'Penguins' show - said: "If it's a situation where they are thinking of getting six people on that show and they look at 10 people and the six they pick happen to be men, then so be it. That's not sexism."