TV host rewrites Bible to make Jesus mixed-race

The Bible has been rewritten by a Songs of Praise presenter by replacing Christ with a mixed-race family.

Gemma Hunt, who is also a CBBC presenter, has retold New Testament tales in a children’s book to allow mixed-race readers to “see themselves represented”. For example, Jesus washing his disciples’ feet is portrayed as a black football coach cleaning his team’s boots.

She wanted to offer an alternative to “whitewashed” children’s Bible stories that portray Jesus as “blonde-haired and blue-eyed”.

Hunt said that in her youth she “couldn’t find any children’s books which represented a family like ours”.