Assault claim is nonsense - Tarrant - News in brief

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The Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? host was arrested after a fellow diner claimed the star threw cutlery at him and cut his arm.

Tarrant, 60, was eating with two colleagues at the MemSaab restaurant in Nottingham when the assault allegedly took place.

The star said the "mythical alleged assault" occurred after he bantered with the man and his girlfriend.

He told Sky News: "It is just utter nonsense. There was no aggro, there was no temper, there was no problem."

But he admitted that he did jokingly "lob" some cutlery onto the couple's table after asking them to leave him alone to discuss work with his colleagues.

Tarrant said he did not know if he threw "a spoon, a fork, a napkin - whatever" but that he chatted with the couple later and they were fine.

Asked if he should have risen above any jibes, he replied: "Yes, I should have done. It was just a bit of horseplay."

He added: "I've had people come up to me and pour beer over my head, but I don't turn around and smack them. It's part of your life and I accept it, but this one was kind of weird."

Tarrant said the first he knew of the assault claim was when police arrested him at his hotel half an hour after he left the restaurant on Sunday night. He was taken to a police station, interviewed under caution and released on bail several hours later.