Agony aunt’s advice rapped
SEX DISCUSSION UNSUITABLE FOR KIDS
A TYNESIDE TV show has been rapped after an agony aunt joked a viewer’s husband may have had sex with their pet dogs.
And when offering tips to spice up their sex life, ‘Agony Anna’ also told the woman to “splash out” at Ann Summers while suggesting her hubby may have a fetish.
Ofcom says the advice, broadcast at 6.20pm, was unsuitable for kids.
It launched a probe into ‘North East Live,’ a magazine show broadcast on station Made in Tyne and Wear, following a complaint.
The segment featured a viewer who told Agony Anna her husband no longer wanted sex – and had even blamed their dogs making noise for putting them off.
In response, Agony Anna said: “I mean for a guy to not want it. Where is he getting it from?
“I mean hopefully, and one can only really hope, and I am genuinely fingers crossing that it’s not the dogs, because usually it’s totally the other way around.
“Maybe go to Ann Summers and splash out. Maybe he might have some sort of like, fetish, and you’re just not floating his boat in that way and that’s what you need to do.
“Talk about it, get yourself to Ann Summers and put the dogs in the garage.” Agony Anna is a regular segment which answers a range of viewers’ problems.
Titles of other segments include ‘I have a crush on my girlfriend’s sister’ and ‘She’s sending saucy clips to another guy.’
Defending the segment, producers claimed it was “meant to be lighthearted and playful” and that only 10% of the audience was aged under 16.
However, regulator Ofcom said the March 30 bank holiday broadcast breached rules as it was “inappropriately scheduled” at a time children may have been watching.
“We acknowledged that much of the discussion was euphemistic, however in our view, the overall tone and language used meant that many children in the audience would have understood the sexualised nature of the discussion,” it ruled.
“We did not consider that this was an appropriate topic of discussion for younger audiences and, in our view, it was unsuitable for children.
“Parents would not expect content of this nature to be broadcast in the early evening.”
The Chronicle contacted the station for further comment.
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