I won’t celebrate BBC Breakfast’s anniversary – it was a snake-pit & made my life a misery, rages ex-host in Beeb swipe
A FORMER BBC Breakfast host has explained why she refused to celebrate its 40th anniversary – branding it a ‘snake-pit’ that made her life ‘a misery’.
The BBC breakfast show celebrated its milestone earlier this week, having started as Breakfast Time on January 17, 1983.
A number of present and former stars paid tribute to its predecessor including Carol Kirkwood, who is the show’s longest serving star.
Meanwhile others including Nick Ross spoke about the programme ahead of the anniversary, but one person who was significantly missing was Selina Scott.
Selina, 71, hosted Breakfast Time alongside Frank Bough for three years before leaving the programme.
Speaking about her decision not to take part in the celebations, Selina wrote for MailOnline: “I said no because I prefer to look forward rather than back, but also because so much of my time on the hideous red leather sofa made me feel I was a combatant in a war zone.”
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Selina had previously hosted ITN’s News at Ten before moving over to the BBC.
She recalled: “When I was poached by the BBC, I was warned by old hands that I would find the snake-pit atmosphere generated inside ‘Auntie’s’ venerable walls very different. Boy, were they right.”
Selina recalled her first meeting with Frank, 50, an old timer at the BBC, and how she found out it had been her “audition” for him to see if she was ” suitably pliable and not a professional threat to him.”
She added: “It was the opening shot in Frank’s campaign to undermine me on air.
“His tactics left me confused and unhappy until, eventually, I realised his game was to always appear the dominant partner to the viewers.”
Selina then compared the men who ran the BBC at the time to a Masonic club, and said: “Were they misogynists? Many of my sex thought so. Frank perfectly embodied such a mindset.”
The journalist also said that it was a “source of irritation” that so many pictures of Frank trying to kiss her exist.
She added that she has fond memories of her other Breakfast Time colleagues and crew, but her “beef” was with senior executives who knew what was going on with Frank but did nothing.
Selina also recounted a horrible interview with Jimmy Savile, who acted like a “lovesick teenager” as she tried to interview him across a two hour period.
She recalled: “No matter how hard I tried to deflect his smutty innuendos, he kept coming back with more ‘wink wink, nudge nudge’ suggestions.”
She continued: “When Savile saw he wasn’t getting any reaction from me, he said he wouldn’t answer any more questions unless I gave him a kiss.
“My job was to engage with the guests and create a happy vibe and I felt I had no choice. Can you imagine all this being allowed to play out on British TV today? Or that women like me were expected to acquiesce?
“I thought Savile repulsive, but to my bosses ratings were sacrosanct and Savile was seen as TV gold dust. He was untouchable.”
After three years, Selina left and worked on The Clothes Show as well as projects for CBS.
She added that it would have felt “dishonest” to appear on BBC Breakfast this week to celebrate the anniversary and not tell it like it was.
She concluded: “And although many might say it is unfair to criticise Frank when he is no longer with us and can’t answer back, it is also vital that the BBC acknowledges its past behaviour, so that each new woman who sits on the Breakfast sofa in the years to come has a better experience than me.”
BBC Breakfast airs daily from 6am on BBC One.