Comic slams ‘smug’ Paxo

Coronation Street actor Chris Fountain has been axed from the show as a result of an online video in which he delivered a foulmouthed rap which included lyrics about rape.

The 25-year-old was suspended from the show last week after the video came to light and he met programme bosses yesterday to discuss his actions.

ITV said last night that his contract has now been terminated due to his “unacceptable comments”.

Fountain, who plays Tommy Duckworth, has apologised and said he is “deeply ashamed” of the lyrics. His videos were posted on YouTube as his rap persona The Phantom. An ITV spokesman said: “Chris Fountain’s contract with ITV has been terminated as a result of the unacceptable comments he madein anumberof online clips.”

Fountain’s actions were condemned by charities, women’s groups and MPs.

Tory MP Priti Patel said his raps showed “a lack of respect, regard and understanding of the crime of rape”. TV star Nicholas Lyndhurst has hit out at the current state of TV, comparing “cruel” Britain’s Got Talent to the psychiatric hospital Bedlam.

The former Only Fools And Horses star said that the long-running BBC1 sitcom, starring Lyndhurst and Sir David Jason as brothers Rodney and Derek Trotter, would not get made today.

Lyndhurst, 52, who has joined veteran detective series New Tricks, said that his young son Archie has the “acting gene”. But he added: “I wonder, though, what sort of industry he’ll enter. I can hardly say, ‘Darling, do all this training and the best thing will be Celebrity Dog Watch’.” Comedian Alexander Armstrong says he is not a fan of fellow quiz show host Jeremy Paxman – accusing the abrasive TV star of being smug.

Hit BBC1 quiz show Pointless, which Armstrong presentswithtowering sidekick Richard Osman, recently marked its 500th episode.

Armstrong, 43, suggested that when it came to his role as a quiz show host he had not been inspired by University Challenge presenter Paxman, 63.

Asked what makes a good quiz master, he said: “I don’t know if Jeremy Paxman genuinely does know all of the answers on University Challenge but he blimmin’ acts like he does. That annoys me a bit because it’s easy to be smug when you have the answers in front of you.

“I prefer a genial host like Richard Whiteley or Bob Holness,” he said of the late Countdown and Blockbusters presenters.

In March, the BBC received 44 complaints after a 20-year-old contestant repeatedly apologised for answering a question wrong on the academic quiz show following “acerbic” rem a r k s made by

Paxman.

Alexander Armstrong