Sachs and Baillie 'haven't spoken since Russell Brand scandal'

Andrew Sachs has not spoken to his granddaughter Georgina Baillie since the row over obscene messages on his answering machine erupted, it was reported today.

Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross left messages for the Fawlty Towers’ actor while recording Brand’s radio show last autumn, claiming Brand had slept with Miss Baillie.

Sachs’s wife Melody told the Evening Standard the couple had not been in touch with Miss Baillie, a member of burlesque dance troupe the Satanic Sluts.

Mrs Sachs said: “We haven’t spoken to her since and I have no wish to speak to her.

“We didn’t know any of this about the drugs, sex with Russell Brand, and we had never heard the name Satanic Sluts before.

“She used to be a lovely girl and we spent a lot of money on her, educating her.”

Ross returns to the television tonight with the first edition of his chat show since he completed a 12-week suspension for his part in the scandal.

Mr Sachs told the Standard he would watch the show out of curiosity, but said he found the programme “embarrassing”.

The show was recorded yesterday at BBC Television Centre in west London, and audience members were generally supportive of Ross and said there was no ill-feeling towards him in the studio.

Ross, 48, began the show by repeating his apology to Sachs, and promising to be “more aware” of the privilege he enjoyed as a BBC presenter.

He first mocked ex-US president George Bush and his “Bushisms”, including “the trouble with the French is they have no word for entrepreneur” and “I believe human beings and fish can coexist peacefully”.

“What sort of idiot would say stuff like that knowing it was going to be broadcast?” Ross said.

Most viewers would be well aware of his absence from the television and the reasons for it, he added.

“Well, I am going to take this opportunity to apologise for what I said on the radio because being on the BBC, and being allowed this level of freedom to communicate openly with people, it’s a great privilege and it’s something I’ve always enjoyed and I value enormously, and in future I do intend to be more aware of the responsibility that comes with such a gift,” he said.

“But as the kids say, it was my bad, so I do apologise for any hurt or distress it’s caused.”

Ross’s guests for tonight’s comeback show were Tom Cruise, Stephen Fry and Lee Evans.

When Ross thanked Fry for coming on the show, the QI presenter replied: “I’m very happy to help you get off the naughty step.”

A report in the Daily Mail said Ross swore several times during filming.

Whether these exchanges are left in the show when it is broadcast or edited out remains to be seen.

Ross and Evans also discussed Doctor Who, with Ross pretending not to know who was playing the new incarnation of the Time Lord.

A series of photographs was flashed up on the studio screen, and Ross recoiled in horror when Russell Brand’s picture appeared.