Joey Barton accused of making sexist comments on Question Time after comparing EU elections to 'choosing between ugly girls'

He later told the audience that his brains are in his feet

Piers Morgan, Louise Bours, David Willetts MP, chair David Dimbleby, Margaret Curran MP and Joey Barton on BBC Question Time at Heathrow (BBC One )

Viewers tuning to BBC Question on Thursday in the hope that Piers Morgan and Joey Barton would continue their Twitter spat live on air instead saw the QPR footballer be accused of sexism by an audience member.

The audience at the programme filmed from Heathrow Terminal 2 groaned as Barton compared last week's European Parliament and local elections to “choosing between ugly girls”.

“If I'm somewhere and there was four really ugly girls, I'm thinking she's not the worst - that's all UKIP are,” said Barton.

While former Mirror editor Piers Morgan and the QPR footballer pair barely exchanged words and ended the programme laughing and joking, newly elected Ukip MEP Louise Bours quickly hit back at Barton’s analogy.

“What an offensive thing to say,” she said, before accusing Barton of being a typical footballer with his “brain in [his] feet”.

The remark haunted Barton for the remainder of the programme, with chair David Dimbleby frequently making jokes.

When the discussion had moved on to the Chilcott inquiry later in the show, an audience told Barton that she had agreed with him before he had made the “sexist” comment, and warned him of a likely Twitter backlash.

“Maybe I was a little nervous… My brains are in my feet,” he said, before apologising.

While some users on Twitter appeared to be amused by Barton's comment, many mirrored the audience member's comments and said they were disappointed that Barton had marred his otherwise strong performance.