Sky pulls reality show over claims contestant has Nazi facial tattoos

SKY pulled a new reality show from its schedules after Twitter users claimed a contestant had Nazi tattoos on his face.

The Chop: Britain’s Top Woodworker saw “10 of the country’s finest joiners” compete in a series of challenges. The Sky History channel broadcast a trailer this week featuring contestant Darren Lumsden, a carpenter from Bristol.

Mr Lumsden has a heavily tattooed face that includes an “88” on his cheek.

Among white supremacists, 88 is numerical code for “Heil Hitler”, as H is the eighth letter of the alphabet. Sky said Mr Lumsden denied any racist affiliation and said the tattoo referenced his father’s death in 1988. Initially, Sky defended the programme, saying: “Darren’s tattoos denote significant events in his life and have no political or ideological meaning whatsoever.

“Amongst the various numerical tattoos on his body, 1988 is the year of his father’s death. The production team carried out extensive background checks on all the woodworkers taking part in the show that confirmed Darren has no affiliations or links to racist groups, views or comments. Sky History is intolerant of racism and all forms of hatred and any use of symbols or numbers is entirely incidental and not meant to cause harm or offence.”

However, after Twitter users claimed Mr Lumsden also had “23” on one side of his head and “16” on the other – used by some white supremacists as code for “White Power”, using the alphabet’s 23rd and 16th letters, Sky said: “While we further investigate the nature and meaning of Darren’s tattoos, we have removed the video featuring him from our social media pages, and will not be broadcasting any episode of The Chop: Britain’s Top Woodworker until we have concluded that investigation.

“Sky History stands against racism and hate speech of all kinds.” The first episode has already been broadcast and is still available to watch on Sky. It features Mr Lumsden explaining that he is known as “The Woodman” on account of his job making bespoke furniture and shepherd huts.

Mr Lumsden also has “Lucky” tattooed on the back of his head and “Homegrown” above his lip.