This morning I listened to Steve Allen 'A Little Bit Extra' from Friday 17 February - purely on a fact checking, not entertainment basis.
It is scandalous that Allen lasted 44 years before falling on his sword, he is a narcissist, his presentation skills are unprofessional to say the least, I use the word presentation loosely.
This particular episode was about 15 minutes long and mainly consisted of talk on Katie Price and more so on Gemma Collins.
He spoke about both in very derogatory terms and if I was Collins I would be raising complaints with OFCOM.
LBC and owner Global have recently been making major new hires, including ex-BBC stalwart Andrew Marr who presents an hourly 6pm show as well as his former colleagues at the broadcaster Jon Sopel, Emily Maitlis and Lewis Goodall who present the hit podcast The News Agents.
Allen’s acerbic take on the news of the day” occasionally got him into trouble with listeners and broadcast regulator Ofcom. In 2018 the watchdog ruled he had breached the Broadcasting Code by mocking a blind BBC journalist who had been assigned a guide horse.
In December 2021 Ofcom cleared Allen over comments he made that Strictly Come Dancing star Tilly Ramsay was a “chubby little thing”, in part because it decided the presenter was known for being “provocative”, but it provided guidance to LBC to take greater care in the future.
He seems to be besotted with Price and Collins, I recall from many moons ago they where a topic of his and he talked of them in the same fashion as late.
Both are characters of an acquired taste, nevertheless this does not give Allen the right to speak about them in the manner he finds entertaining.
Reading the comments on social media shows he does have a fan base and that I find worrying, if they enjoy his acidic presenting, they are condoning his comments.
He talks about many in such poor light as if he is an Adonis or follower of fashion, I recall him attending the funeral of Barbara Windsor looking scruffy, unkept and resembling something from the film Oliver.
This is the individual who bragged amongst other things that he never wore a pair of socks twice, I find that debatable as he does strike me as being very hygienic in his appearance.
Some buffoon has started a petition online with the aim of getting Allen reinstated on LBC, these people are on another planet as it's not going to happen.
There is an expression that he should note, people in glass houses, should not through stones.
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