Trisha Goddard received 'even more vile abuse' in wake of Leigh Francis 'Bo'Selecta!' apology

Trisha Goddard has revealed she received to “even more vile abuse” after Leigh Francis apologised for impersonating the chat show host and other black stars on Bo’ Selecta!

The 62-year-old recently shared that she hated the impersonation of her on the show, which ran from 2002 to 2009, and that her children had faced bullying at school because of it.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain on Monday, Goddard said: “I didn’t realise until fairly recently how badly bullied my children were as a result of that.

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“Leigh [Francis] chose to make an apology, and let me just say since Leigh made that apology, I have been subject to even more vile abuse.”

In an appearance on Newsnight last week, Goddard detailed why she “couldn’t watch” Francis’s portrayal of her on the Channel 4 programme.

She said: “Let me be clear on this, if the parody was just of me that would be one thing, but it was the big lips, all the things that every black child has been bullied about.

"I can laugh at myself, I’ve had people joke about me, but it was the racial over the top with the big lips, the big wide hips, the rice and peas. I couldn't actually watch it.”

Francis said in his apology that he “didn’t realise how offensive” his portrayals of black celebrities including Goddard, Michael Jackson and Craig David had been.

"I want to say sorry for any upset I caused whether I was Michael Jackson, Craig David or Trisha Goddard, all people that I am a big fan of,” he said in an Instagram video.

"I guess we're all on a learning journey.”

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Bo’ Selecta! was removed from Channel 4’s streaming service All 4 last week.

A Channel 4 spokesperson said: “We support Leigh in his decision to reflect on Bo’ Selecta! in light of recent events and we’ve agreed with him to remove the show from the All 4 archive.”