Tim Davie outlaws the phrase ‘expertise’ as BBC suffers ANOTHER rocky week

The BBC‘s director general Tim Davie says he has banned the word ‘talent’ at the corporation – and after the week the corporation has had, it’s not hard to see why.

The word crops up often enough across the Beeb, from its Talent Cloud database of freelancers to its own jobs website, which features a quote about ‘attracting and retaining the finest talent’ from Mr Davie himself.

But in the wake of the Huw Edwards scandal – and amidst a number of other controversies involving presenters and stars on flagship BBC programmes – the media executive has called for a rethink, and not a moment too soon.

In recent days BBC ‘talent’ has issued an apology for using a racist slur in a script rehearsal, while another has been forced to defend a ‘stupid joke’ as his hand allegedly ‘wandered’ across the waist of his Strictly dance partner.

Others have been caught up in rows over alleged inappropriate behaviour behind the scenes.

BBC bosses are preparing a new review, entitled Respect at Work, that will look at the steps the broadcaster can take to ensure ‘the same values, expectations and standards apply (to BBC staff) regardless of the person involved’.

It promises a ‘zero-tolerance approach towards unacceptable behaviour’ by ensuring that ‘the consequences of inappropriate behaviour and abuse of power are understood by everyone’, with a target of next spring for completion.

BBC newsreader Edwards was allowed to resign in April after quietly drawing £200,000 from his pay packet while on leave that began last November – when the corporation knew he had been arrested on indecent image charges.

Mr Davie, speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme on Monday, confirmed that Edwards has still not paid back the £200,000 despite requests to do so.

Speaking to Today presenter Nick Robinson about the new Respect at Work review, Mr Davie said nobody was ‘indispensable’.

He told the programme: ‘We often refer to people like yourself as ‘talent’. I’ve kind of banned that. You’re a presenter, I’m a leader of the organisation, and we’re here to serve.’

When Robinson later in the interview used the word ‘talent’ again, Mr Davie reminded him that he was ‘not accepting that word anymore’

Mr Davie said: ‘The BBC is utterly committed. You see us acting in good faith to get at this and I would say important to that is everyone is treated equally, regardless of rank. And I hope that comes through very clearly.’

But the corporation is continuing to fight fires amid a series of other controversies around some of its best known on-screen stars. 

Mrs Brown’s Boys star Brendan O’Carroll apologised this week after making an allegedly racist joke during rehearsals for a Christmas special.

Last night, O’Carroll apologised as he told The Mirror: ‘At a read-through of the Mrs. Brown’s Boys Christmas specials, there was a clumsy attempt at a joke, in the character of Agnes, where a racial term was implied.

‘It backfired and caused offence which I deeply regret and for which I have apologised.’

And Wynne Evans, the opera singer best known as the ‘Go Compare Man’ from the comparison site adverts, has been hitting out at reports of a ‘wandering hand’ on Strictly partner Katya Jones in scenes broadcast on Saturday night.

The dancing show contestant has been forced to refute claims of inappropriate behaviour after Jones was seen to apparently refuse his offer of a high-five and appeared to move his hand away from her waist.

Speculation of Jones’ discomfort prompted a welfare review by BBC bosses, who confirmed both were ‘comfortable continuing the partnership’.

The pair then appeared on spin-off show It Takes Two to downplay the incident as an ‘inside joke’ while Evans said: ‘I can see how people may have misinterpreted it.’

Evans also told BBC Radio Wales, where he hosts a show, that it was a ‘stupid joke’ that had missed the mark.

He said: ‘It’s not nice to live in that time, but basically Katya and I are really, really close and we’re really good friends, and on Saturday night we made a stupid joke.

‘It was a stupid joke that went wrong, OK? We thought it was funny. It wasn’t funny. It has been totally misinterpreted.’

Earlier on Monday, Masterchef and former Inside the Factory host Gregg Wallace denied allegations of inappropriate sexual comments towards a female colleague while filming a show in 2018.

Wallace, 59, was reported to BBC bosses in 2018 after he was accused of taking his top off and boasting about his sex life to a woman on the show Impossible Celebrities – a claim he has fervently denied. 

A source had told The Sun that Wallace had made ‘consistent inappropriate comments’ to the younger woman, adding: ‘Gregg appeared to think it was all just banter and is also said to have made some comments in front of the live audience.

‘The team working on the show were mortified and told BBC top brass what had happened.’

He took to Instagram to say the incident had been investigated and that he ‘hadn’t said anything sexual’.

Wallace added in a second video: ‘Nobody six years ago accused me of flirting with anybody or hitting on anybody.

‘The reason I say this is because of my wife Anna. I have always been true to my wife Anna.’ 

The issues will only compound the headache of BBC bosses after major talent was implicated in other scandals earlier this year.

Earlier this month, Strictly contestant Nick Knowles faced allegations he described women from the North East of England as ‘munters’ and ogled a charity worker’s breasts while filming DIY SOS.

Knowles is also alleged to have made a string of lewd remarks while filming the programme, which gives handyman help to those whose home improvement projects have gone wrong.

When the woman accidentally dropped her microphone down her blouse, Nick is alleged to have said: ‘It’s a shame that’s not a camera.’

She also claimed the presenter told her she was the ‘first good-looking woman’ he had seen in the North East.

She told The Sun: ‘I was mortified. He humiliated me in a very personal way in front of the whole crew. It was offensive. He was in his late 50s. He was being so inappropriate and I felt belittled.

‘I had been looking forward to meeting him and he ruined the whole experience for me.’

Knowles was also alleged to have discouraged her from getting married, telling her marriage hadn’t worked for him.

In response to the claims, he told the Sun he ‘had encountered hundreds of people in the course of his work and cannot be expected to remember what he has said to everyone he has met’.

Former One Show and Match of the Day presenter Jermaine Jenas has gone to ground after flirtatious texts he allegedly sent to women were revealed.

He had admitted to sending inappropriate texts to BBC co-workers and was sacked from his presenting jobs in August. 

Jenas, married to model Ellie Penfold, is also alleged to have begged a woman for bikini photos before sending her an explicit photograph of his own while working in Qatar during the World Cup.

He is understood to have denied the later claims, and maintains that the texts he sent to his BBC colleagues were ‘between two consenting adults’.

The BBC has previously said of allegations concerning stars: ‘Whilst we do not comment on individuals, if issues are raised they are dealt with swiftly and appropriately at the time. 

‘We do not tolerate any form of inappropriate behaviour and have robust processes in place.’

Contacted for comment today, the broadcaster did not comment on whether the word ‘talent’ would face an outright ban within the BBC.

Launching the Respect at Work review, BBC Chair Samir Shah said in an email to staff: ‘I cannot emphasise enough that I am fully committed to tackling inappropriate or abusive behaviour.

‘For most of us it is a joy to work for the BBC and that should be the case for everyone. Nobody working in the BBC should ever feel fear or worry while working here.

‘What is clear to me is that we must ensure the BBC is a safe, secure and welcoming workplace for everyone.’