apologises

ITV has issued an apology after accidentally airing an unedited clip of Gordon Ramsay swearing on a repeat of Food Stars USA more than 12 hours before the watershed

ITV has issued an apology after accidentally airing an unedited clip of Gordon Ramsay swearing on a repeat of Food Stars USA more than 12 hours before the watershed. The TV chef, 59, is well known for his use of profanity but in an edition that was broadcast at 8:25am on ITV2 in May, a blunder with the subtitles saw that the bad language had not been edited out and appeared in text form on the screen.

The swearing had been removed from the audio of the programme and replaced with the typical bleep sound but the censoring had not made it as far as the closed captions, The Sun reports.

The channel claimed that the subtitles were created before the “the implementation of new checking processes,” which now includes “steps to ensure that any mismatch” between versions within the scheduling system is “apparent and corrected” ahead of broadcast.

According to the outlet, the mistake was found to be “a clear breach” of Ofcom guidelines, which strictly prohibits the airing of swearing before 9pm. Viewers with the subtitles on would have realised that heavy use of the F-word from Gordon, and the Ofcom had to take into account that ITV2 did not apologise after the programme has finished.

A ruling from the broadcast read: “In this case, the broadcast of the words at 08:25 was a clear example of the most offensive language being broadcast before the watershed.

“This was a pre-recorded programme, which ITV2 would have had the opportunity to check prior to broadcast, and that it included two instances of the most offensive language before the watershed.

“Further, we considered there was no on-air apology made by ITV2 following the broadcast. Ofcom took into account the steps that the Licensee said it had taken since being notified of the incident to prevent future recurrence.

“However, in Ofcom‘s view, these steps would not have impacted on the offence caused to viewers as a result of this particular broadcast.”

Earlier this year, This Morning’s Ben Shephard had to issue an apology after Gordon swore during a live cooking segment while bickering with his daughter Tilly on the set of the ITV Daytime show.

The chef had been talking about his daughter Holly’s wedding to Olympic swimmer Adam Peaty and arguing with his eldest Tilly on This Morning when he knocked over a container of soy sauce.

“Oh s**t,” he said, while Ben quickly jumped in: “Just in case that spilled into the classic Ramsay work, apologies. We are live. I’m just pre-empting a strike.” Gordon argued back: “I said shoot! Ben – come on, Ben!”

The Mirror has contacted ITV for comment.

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The latter stages of McCullum’s tenure have been blighted by off-field issues. During the winter, Harry Brook, Jacob Bethell, Josh Tongue and Ben Duckett were all involved in late-night incidents.

After England won the first Test of the summer against New Zealand, the series was derailed by Stokes and Gus Atkinson breaking the team’s midnight curfew and being present when a member of security staff was struck by a Saracens rugby player.

And McCullum accepted responsibility for what happened on and off the field.

“I was the leader of that group. I was in charge of the team culturally, in charge of the team tactically, in charge of the team results wise as well,” said McCullum.

“If you don’t get the results, being a results business, fundamentally you get replaced. I’m not unaccustomed to that, I’ve been around this game for 20-odd years and I know if you aren’t getting the results, someone else needs an opportunity.

“I put my hand up for that and accept it wasn’t good enough.”

McCullum and Stokes have both previously denied they grew apart during the Ashes series, and McCullum said he has heard from the all-rounder since news of his departure from the Test role emerged.

“I got some nice messages from Stokesy,” said McCullum. “I guess, in a romantic kind of way there’s something about Stokesy and I going out together. We started it together and we go out together, and I have no problem with that.”

England’s search for a new Test coach is already under way, and Gould explained on Sunday a coach will be appointed before a new captain is finalised.

Gould also suggested that the captaincy would be split, perhaps hinting that white-ball captain Brook, also the Test vice-captain, would not be able to lead across all formats.

Brook and McCullum have formed a strong bond while working together with the white-ball teams, and England’s T20 side have just moved to the top of the world rankings.

It raises the question as to whether that partnership will be broken up if 27-year-old Brook takes control of the Test side.

“You know my thoughts on Harry, my affection for him as a player, person and leader,” said McCullum.

“He’s got one of the best tactical brains I’ve seen in someone so relatively young. He’s developing at an incredible speed as a leader. I love working with Harry and I’d love to continue to do so.

“There will be lots of robust conversations throughout. Myself with the white-ball and whoever takes over the red-ball, ultimately there’s going to be harmony across all three teams because we’re going to want what’s best for English cricket.”

McCullum previously had experience working in an environment where the coaching responsibilities were split. For two years, he was Test coach, with Matthew Mott in charge of the white-ball teams. When Mott was sacked in 2024, McCullum assumed overall control.

A heavily congested schedule lends itself to splitting the coaching jobs, but can also lead to one team being sidelined in terms of access to multi-format players.

McCullum will now have to build a working relationship with the new Test coach.

Former England coach Andy Flower could be a candidate, while McCullum’s former New Zealand team-mate Stephen Fleming is highly respected and has just left Indian Premier League side Chennai Super Kings.

Ex-England batter Jonathan Trott has international experience with Afghanistan and Glamorgan coach Richard Dawson is seen as an emerging homegrown contender.

“Once the Test coach is put in the post, we’ll work collaboratively to try to work out what is right for all three formats, and what is right for English cricket,” said McCullum.

“I expect that to be robust, but hopefully a profitable conversation for everyone. Fundamentally, we just need to get what’s right for English cricket. That will be the number one motivation.”

England, under McCullum, begin a three-match one-day series against India at Edgbaston on Tuesday.

Jos Buttler will play his 200th ODI for England, while the tourists can call on the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah.

Ben Stokes has apologised to his team-mates before his return as England captain for the third Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge.

Stokes and pace bowler Gus Atkinson were made unavailable for the second Test, which ended in a 253-run defeat, pending an investigation into a breach of the team’s midnight curfew and an incident in a London nightclub following England’s victory in the series opener.

Both players have been recalled to the XI for the third Test, which starts on Thursday, after being found blameless of “violent conduct” by the Cricket Regulator.

A disciplinary hearing by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), however, found they had “breached contractual obligations” and have been issued with a written warning.

Joe Root captained the side in Stokes’ absence, with Sonny Baker, Jordan Cox, and James Rew making their debuts in a much-changed side.

“That was one of the first things I had to do as a captain,” Stokes said, when asked if he had apologised to his team-mates.

“You look at a situation and it affects more than just myself. It affected Joe, it affected the squad, it affects the people outside the playing environment.

“It no doubt had an effect on the lads who were making their debut. That should have been all about them but unfortunately a situation out of their control took precedence over their big day of making their debut for England in Test cricket.

“It would be stupid and naive for me not to acknowledge that and address that. And it’s something that you do have to do as someone who’s got the responsibility of being a leader within a group.

“It’s all fine and well everything being fine and dandy when it’s going well, but you need to take responsibility for things as well. If that’s you that needs to take that responsibility, you need to be big enough and man enough to be able to take that upon your shoulders, look everyone in the eye, and apologise how you need to apologise. That’s what I did.”

Former Tottenham midfielder Rafael van der Vaart has apologised after saying that Japan players “all look alike” during their 2-2 draw with the Netherlands.

Van der Vaart, 43, was working as a pundit for Dutch broadcaster NOS TV when he made the remark after Micky van de Ven lost Koki Ogawa’s run for Japan’s late equaliser.

“They all look alike, of course, maybe he thought that,” the former Netherlands international said when analysing Van de Ven’s defending.

Van der Vaart, who was capped 109 times and was part of the Dutch team that lost in the 2010 World Cup final, has apologised for causing any offence.

He said: “It was never my intention to offend, hurt, or discriminate against anyone. I oppose racism in all its forms and have respect for people of every background, ethnicity, and culture.

“I understand that some people may have found my words offensive or hurtful. I sincerely regret that.

“If my comment has caused pain or upset, I would like to offer my heartfelt apologies. That was never my intention.”

Anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out criticised Van der Vaart and called for broadcasters to be more careful.

A joint statement from Kick It Out and the Frank Soo Foundation, external, a charity that supports East and South East Asian communities, said: “It’s hugely disappointing to hear former players peddling racist slurs about Japan’s team and then double down by trying to defend the comments as a joke.

“Even if he claims there was no racist intent in what he said, the comments can still have an impact on those involved, and the wider East and South East Asian community, as we have seen with previous examples directed towards players.

“The World Cup attracts massive global TV audiences, so it’s always important that guests are careful with their language and that broadcasters take responsibility for those appearing on their shows, whether that is through additional education or training.”