Hermit monk groped me as I filmed BBC show, reveals Sue Perkins
BROADCASTER Sue Perkins has told how she was groped by a hermit monk while filming for a BBC television show – as the camera crew laughed.
The presenter, 50, said the experience happened during shooting in Cambodia for an episode of the 2014 documentary The Mekong River with Sue Perkins.
She recalled how the hermit was supposed to be talking about ‘how awful life was under the Khmer Rouge’ – but ended up groping her breasts and bottom.
Describing the encounter, Miss Perkins told the Cheltenham Literature Festival: ‘I go in and the first thing he does... is he smashes his head against mine...
‘And he keeps it there. He keeps it there for about five minutes... Then he puts his hands on my shoulders and whispers something.
I thought what an incredible experience this wise man is.’
But the next thing was, she said, ‘His hands go down and to my waist... Then they moved round and really firmly, very firmly, just, on my j**s... Then... he was on my a*** for five minutes and then I was just saying “thank you, namaste”.’ Miss Perkins said the hermit, who then winked, was an ‘absolute a******e’. She added: ‘But when we were in there, my mate and the camera crew were crying with laughter...
‘At the end, he cut the interview short, groped me again and then went “call me”.’
Miss Perkins, who co-hosted The Great British Bake Off from 2010 to 2016, was appearing to promote her book East of Croydon. She spoke out a week after ex-Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain revealed she was sexually abused aged five by a relative.
The BBC said it was unable to comment. It is understood no complaint was made by Miss Perkins when the show was filmed.