(Picture: PA)
Several of The Apprentice candidates are reportedly set to raise ‘fresh’ complaints to the BBC after fellow star Lottie Lion was ‘let off’ following the alleged racist comments she made towards Lubna Farhan.
The librarian has found herself embroiled in an online spat with her rival Lubna, after she told the star ‘shut up, Gandhi’ before threatening to ‘f*** her up’ in a group chat.
At least four contestants made official complaints and agreed to give evidence — but are now preparing to raise fresh grievances over the outcome.
They branded the statement issued by bosses ‘pathetic’ after an investigation into remarks she made in a WhatsApp group.
Yesterday, a show source claimed the BBC sees it as a ‘fruitless investigation’ as ‘everyone thinks Lottie has got off the hook.’
The explained to The Sun: ‘The comments are totally out of order and racist. Yet she has been let off with a slap on the wrist.
‘There is a general feeling among those on the show the BBC doesn’t understand how offended people are — or just want it to go away.
‘It feels like it has been brushed under the carpet.’
They went on to claim that Lottie refused to accept any responsibility and accused Lubna of being jealous.
They added that if the 19-year-old had admitted she had made a mistake then her fellow candidates may have been able to forgive her and move on from it.
After the two occurrences came to light, a BBC spokesperson addressed the incidents to Metro.co.uk.
They told us: ‘While this happened on a private messenger service once filming had concluded, the BBC nevertheless still expects the candidates to behave appropriately.
‘The production company have looked into the issue and reported back, Lottie has been informed that her comments were wholly unacceptable and is in no doubt about our view on this.’
Their statement comes after Souleyman Bah addressed the drama on the podcast The Wake Up Call with Sian Gabbidon.
He said: ‘I think there were comments that, you know, yeah… I won’t get into the details of it, but I think it was definitely what it was.
‘I will counter that by saying it was ignorance, really. It’s definitely ignorant racism. I think there’s blatant racism and then there’s ignorant racism.’
Bah then hinted that bosses were made aware of his complaint, but are yet to take any action.
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He said: ‘I think there were comments that, you know, yeah… I won’t get into the details of it, but I think it was definitely what it was.
‘I will counter that by saying it was ignorance, really. It’s definitely ignorant racism. I think there’s blatant racism and then there’s ignorant racism.’
Bah then hinted that bosses were made aware of his complaint, but are yet to take any action.
‘I think my beef isn’t with the perpetrator per se; its more for what’s been done about it. It seems that I’m still waiting for the outcome,’ he added.
Lottie has furiously denied being racist and the BBC have confirmed they will be looking into ‘a complaint’.
He continued: ‘I am just happy that there’s finally been a formal investigation into it.
‘My main concern was that nothing was being done about it but I think it’s good that the production company are looking into and will hopefully come to a conclusion.
‘I haven’t spoken to Lottie directly and to be honest I wouldn’t want to either but I want to as much as I felt affected by it I wanted to pull myself away from it because it was quite negative and the show is supposed to be positive so I want to focus more on that.’
Metro.co.uk has contacted the BBC for further comment.
The Apprentice airs Wednesdays at 9pm on BBC One.
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