Leigh Francis says Craig David needs to ‘move on’ from Bo Selecta row

Leigh Francis has said that Craig David needs to “move on” from their Bo Selecta row.

The TV personality – who uses the comedy name Keith Lemon – has been criticised in the past for the stunt in which he wore a rubber mask with exaggerated features intended to resemble the “7 Days” singer.

Francis impersonated a number of different celebrities on Bo Selecta, which ran on Channel 4 from 2002 to 2009.

David was one of those celebrities, and recently opened up about how the show affected him, calling it “bullying” and “racist”.

“He was highlighting characteristics he felt would trigger us personally,” David told The Times, saying “Every sketch felt personal.”

“It felt like a vendetta and when it got a following, it became something that affected me. People would shout at me on the street and I felt the same feeling I had when I was bullied at school. Leigh Francis had normalised bullying by making it comedy,” he added.

Now, Francis has said that he believes David needs to move on from talking about the show if he wants it to “go away”.

“Most people are happy with their portrayal on Bo’ Selecta!. Apart from someone we know who wasn’t,” Lemon told The Sun on Tuesday (22nd November).

“The only way it’s ever going to go away from him, if he feels people are going on about it, is to stop talking about it,” he said.

Francis also said that he wished David wasn’t upset by the show anymore.

“It’s ages ago, isn’t it? It is, 20 years ago. I wish he wasn’t upset.”

In 2020, Francis apologised to David for wearing the masks on Bo Selecta: “Back in 2002 I did a show called Bo’ Selecta and portrayed many black people. Back then, I didn’t think anything about it, people didn’t say anything,” he said.

“I’ve been talking to some people and I didn’t realise how offensive it was back then and I just want to apologise. I just want to say sorry for any upset I caused, whether I was Michael Jackson, Craig David, Trisha Goddard, all people that I’m a big fan of. I guess we’re all on a learning journey.”

However, in October, David said that he believed that Francis’ apology “seemed very coincidentally timed” and claimed the comedian hadn’t reached out to him personally.

“We can all apologise when on the back foot. Has he reached out to any of the people he did on his show? He hasn’t reached out to me,” he said.

The Independent has contacted representatives of Keith Lemon for comment. Craig David’s representatives have declined to comment.