BBC sorry after Barrowman exposes himself

The BBC has apologised and admitted today that a live radio show during which TV star John Barrowman exposed himself "overstepped the mark".

Barrowman performed the act during an interview on Radio 1's Switch show yesterday evening, after being prompted on the subject.

The incident comes in the wake of the investigation into the prank phone calls made to Andrew Sachs by Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand, for Brand's Radio 2 show.

Following the BBC Trust report into the incident, BBC management said 10 days ago that it was "determined to act on the lessons learnt from this incident, in particular to reinforce adherence to the BBC's compliance systems.

"This will be a major priority within the BBC's audio and music division."

During yesterday's show, presented by Nick Grimshaw and Annie Mac, Grimshaw asked Barrowman, who has starred in Doctor Who and its spin-off Torchwood: "You're famous, we're told for getting your willy out in interviews.

"Is this going to happen today?"

Barrowman responded by saying he was going to "get it out", amid shouting and laughter.

He was later heard to say: "I didn't take the whole thing out, but I got my fruit and nuts out."

Annie Mac apologised on air at the end of the programme for any offence that may have been caused.

The BBC emphasised that nothing untoward was screened online.

A BBC spokeswoman confirmed that one complaint had been received.

She said: "We do feel that the programme overstepped the mark.

"We acknowledge this and apologised at the end of the live programme."