John Cleese ‘worried’ lack of diversity in women’s football will lead to BBC axing coverage of future matches-Cydney Yeates-Entertainment – Metro

John Cleese expressed his fears that the BBC will axe future Lioness matches due to the team’s lack of diversity (Picture: Getty)

John Cleese is actually concerned the lack of diversity in England’s women’s football team could lead the BBC to scrap broadcasting their matches altogether. Yes, really.

After the Lionesses made history with their win against Germany in the Euro 2022 final over the weekend, the Monty Python actor stated that he is worried that future games could be dropped due to the corporation’s ‘rigid quota system’.

‘As the joy following the England Women’s stunning victory subsided, I began to worry about the lack of diversity in our wonderful team,’ Cleese penned.

‘I understand why there were no differently-abled ‘women’ in the team, but is it right… that they should all be blondes?’

In a separate tweet, Cleese continued: ‘The BBC now demands that entertainers in their shows reflect diversity, under a fairly rigid quota system.

‘Is there a danger that the BBC will refuse to broadcast matches starring such a non-inclusive team or are they flexible enough to allow exemptions for exceptional talent?’

Cleese pointed out that the BBC ‘demands that entertainers in their shows reflect the diversity’ (Picture: Getty)

‘I suspect they will remain rigid, since their mission statement is now more concerned with social engineering than in producing the best possible programmes for the British public,’ he added.

‘It’s lucky we made Monty Python when we did…’

It’s extremely unlikely that the BBC would pull its broadcasting of women’s football, especially after the Lionesses’ final match smashed ratings with over 17million people tuning in to watch the game.

The England women’s team after winning the Euro 2022 championship (Picture: Getty)

The game won the title of the most-watched moment of the year by far, beating the Queen’s Jubilee and the men’s Wimbledon final, which both achieved a peak viewership of 7.5million.

In 2020, the BBC announced its plans to increase diversity by investing £100million of its TV budget over a three-year period to produce ‘diverse and inclusive content’.

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The corporation also set itself a mandatory target for 20% of off-screen talent to come from under-represented groups, including those with disabilities or from a BAME or disadvantaged socio-economic background.

Cleese’s remarks come after he hit back at backlash after making a joke he made about slavery during a SXSW talk.

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