Great British Menu star Andi Oliver says she was ‘scarred’ by Enid Blyton books as author’s ‘racist’ books criticised

Andi Oliver spoke out about the use of outdated language in Enid Blyton’s books (Picture: Getty/BBC)

Great British Menu host Andi Oliver has spoken out passionately about the impact the use of outdated language in the late Enid Blyton’s books had on her as a child.

Her statement comes as English Heritage made the decision to update the author’s blue plaque to include criticism of her ‘racist and xenophobic views’.

Oliver, 57, recalled being made of at school when racially-charged language came up in lessons, calling it a ‘humiliating, painful experience’.

She tweeted: ‘I’m just popping (sic) because – Enid Blyton that’s why.

‘Ok this Enid Blyton stuff…why is it so hard for some people to understand that as a child sitting in a classroom while your fellow students barely bother to stifle their giggles and point at you with every mention…golliwog or n****r is a humiliating painful experience, that made me scared of playtime because the words we were reading inspired the bullies and it did yes shape how I felt about myself?

‘I liked the Famous Five too but it doesn’t mean the woman’s writing didn’t scar me.’

The chef went on: ‘And I am ALLOWED TO TALK ABOUT IT!

The Great British Menu star spoke out on Twitter (Picture: @andisn16/Twitter)

She recalled ‘humiliating experiences’ at school (Picture: @andisn16/Twitter)

It comes amid debate about ‘racist’ language used in Enid Blyton’s books (Picture:@andisn16/Twitter)

The author is best known for books Secret Seven and Famous Five (Picture: Getty)

‘It doesn’t mean I’m trying to spoil your vision or upset your applecart but it does mean that you just MIGHT have to understand it didn’t feel that way for everyone and some of those apples made us sick or our stomach. Sorry (no I’m not).’

When a follower replied saying it reminded them of being hurt by ‘references to things & people being “queer”‘, Andi replied: ‘It’s pretty much the same!

‘Sly little digs that feel like a punch in the guy right? Yeah the same.’

Additionally a section on ‘racism in Blyton’s work’ has been added to a webpage which is linked to the plaque on the author’s former home in Chessington in the London borough of Kingston.

Andi with Great British Menu co-stars Oliver Peyton and Matthew Fort (Picture: BBC)

It states: ‘Blyton’s work has been criticised during her lifetime and after for its racism, xenophobia and lack of literary merit.’

Blyton, who died in 1968, was a best-selling writer in the 1920s penning more than 750 books including the Secret Seven and Famous Five. She remains a popular choice among parents who want to get their children into reading.

More: Enid Blyton

English Heritage is reviewing all 950 of its blue plaques in London so that more information is included if the figures being remembered said or did things that ‘are contested or seen today as negative’.

In response to the controversy surrounding Blyton’s plaque, the organisation’s curatorial director Anna Eavis told Metro.co.uk: ‘We have no plans whatsoever to remove any of our London blue plaques. On our website, we are providing more information for each blue plaque so that people can find out more about the person behind the plaque.’

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