New Reality Racism Row For Channel 4

Another racism row has broken out over a Channel 4 reality show, with Shipwrecked now the subject of complaints to Ofcom following racist comments made on last night’s programme.

Shipwrecked, which was recorded five months ago, began yesterday evening and since it aired well over 40 people have complained to Ofcom after one of the contestants praised slavery.

The show is set on two desert islands in the South Pacific and places two teams of young people in competition against each other.

Lucy Buchanan, an 18-year-old public schoolgirl from York, said that she would get a black person to do her “slave work” and also praised slavery.

In addition to this, Buchanan also offered her opinion on gay and overweight people whilst appearing on the hour-long show.

This new racism row follows hot on the heels of the alleged racist bullying in Celebrity Big Brother, which saw Ofcom and Channel 4 swamped with thousands of complaints (see Big Brother Racism Complaints Reach An Estimated 20,000) and The Carphone Warehouse suspend its sponsorship of the celebrity show (see Carphone Warehouse Suspends Celeb Big Bro Sponsorship).

Shipwrecked, on at 6.30pm last night, attracted a peak audience of 1.1 million adult viewers, a 5.3% share of the audience.

Channel Four: 020 7396 4444 www.channel4.com