Channel 4 cleared over Shipwrecked contestant's racist slur

Lucy Buchanan, 18, outraged viewers when she described black people as "really bad" and declared: "I'm for slavery."

Her comments were broadcast in the opening episode of the series in January.

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The episode, screened in the same week as the Celebrity Big Brother race row, prompted 1,453 complaints from viewers.

But Ofcom ruled: "There is no requirement that all people who take part in a reality television programme must be shown to only express views which meet generally accepted standards. This would not be a justifiable or proportionate limitation on freedom of expression.

"One of the consequences of reality television is that it can present to viewers attitudes which are not often aired on television but which are held by an unpredictable range of people.

"The fact that the contestants and many viewers found Lucy Buchanan's views offensive did not mean that Channel 4 was not entitled to broadcast them in context."

Ofcom concluded: "Channel 4 took appropriate care in creating adequate context for Lucy Buchanan's views, which justified their inclusion in this programme.

"The context ensured that her behaviour and views were not encouraged or condoned by the broadcaster, but were instead robustly challenged."

Gap year student Lucy said on the show: "I don't really like fat people, I don't really like really ugly people. I don't like it when foreigners come into our country and they don't take on the British culture and the British values.

"I'm quite for the British Empire and things. I'm for slavery but that's never going to come back."

A fellow contestant challenged: "What I don't understand is how you can generalise, like how you don't like black people as well?"

Lucy replied: "I don't know them... from what I've seen they're really bad."

Another member of the group told her: "I hate racist people, I really do," and another said her views were "Hitler-esque and quite scary".