The BBC has cut ties with Ashley Cain after accepting that vetting of the presenter had “clearly failed” after his misogynist social media comments came to light.
A second series of BBC3’s Ashley Cain: Into the Danger Zone, filmed earlier this year, will not be broadcast.
Earlier this week, The Guardian highlighted a string of historical social media posts from 2011 to 2015 in which the former footballer used misogynistic terms and joked about non-consensual sexual practices.
It also published allegations that on a separate series, Middlechild Television’s Ashley Cain: The Real Las Vegas, filmed in June last year, Cain was taken off the project after he appeared to be drunk during filming and replaced by another presenter, Tir Dhondy.
“The posts by Ashley Cain, albeit from many years ago, are completely unacceptable,” the BBC said.
“The BBC has clear requirements around vetting and social media checks, which are undertaken by the production company. In this instance, the process clearly failed and we are investigating why. We are continuing to strengthen our processes to ensure everyone working for, and on behalf of, the BBC meets our values and standards.”
It confirmed the BBC had no future projects with the presenter, who it had initially nurtured as someone who could “connect with young men in a truly exceptional way”, as commissioning editor Ricky Cooper said at the launch of his first serties.
Another commissioning editor, Nasfim Haque, described him as “what BBC Three is about” last year.
Cain, who made his name on MTV’s Ex on the Beach, has also appeared on BBC1;s Celebrity Masterchef.
Into the Danger Zone, a co-production between True North and House of Panthera, a joint venture between Cain, Off Limits Sport and Twenty Six 03, is, at the time of writing, still available on BBC iPlayer.
In the series, Cain travels to the world’s most dangerous places, interviewing young men who live on the fringes of society.
The production companies have yet to comment on the matter.
