Pundit McCririck defends ‘gravitas’ to tribunal

John McCririck’s appearances as a pantomime villain in reality TV shows did nothing to reduce his gravitas as a serious racing pundit and journalist, he has told an employment tribunal.

McCririck, 73, said his image as a bigot and a sexist had gone side-by-side with his image as a highbrow journalist and denied it had ever damaged the sport of horse racing.

The presenter, renowned for his bling, sideburns and deerstalker hat, is taking former employer Channel 4 and TV production company IMG Media to the tribunal, alleging his sacking last year was motivated by age discrimination.

McCririck told the hearing that he remained highly qualified to do the job, and his appearance on reality television shows including Celebrity Big Brother, Celebrity Wife Swap and other spin-off shows had not detracted from another, serious, image.

Admitting he was a “taxi for hire” from 2010 after his days on Channel 4 were cut to 40 a year, McCririck said he had pursued appearances on reality TV, encouraged by Channel 4.

But he said his persona as a “bombastic and domineering” individual was a pantomime character that he would have reined in if he had been asked.

“When I came out of Celebrity Big Brother in 2005 to all the howling and catcalling, Davina McCall said, ‘don’t worry John it’s all pantomime’. That’s all it was, not serious,” he said.

But McCririck, who was repeatedly urged to “control his aggression”, “refrain from grandstanding” or passing comment during his appearance yesterday, insisted he had also appeared on serious programmes such as Question Time and Newsnight, and his “gravitas” as a serious journalist was not at risk by his antics away from racing.

The tribunal was told of several occasions McCririck had acted in a way he accepted was seen as a sexist and a bigot, including his reference to wife Jenny — who was supporting him at the hearing — as “The Booby”, as she was “not very bright, squawks a lot and was easy to catch”.

He said: “I call myself a pub bore with a microphone.”

“You could say it attracted more people to racing, people knew me, watched what I was saying on and off racing. Channel 4 approved of all of this, they never once called me in, Channel 4 never demurred from what was going on, they approved it, they sanctioned it.”

The hearing continues.