Clinton loses his cool in Dimbleby grilling

Bill Clinton loses his famously genial temper in a BBC interview this week when David Dimbleby directs repeated questions about his affair with Monica Lewinsky.

Bill Clinton loses his famously genial temper in a BBC interview this week when David Dimbleby directs repeated questions about his affair with Monica Lewinsky.

The former US president, known for his perma-smile and unshakeable good spirits, becomes visibly rattled when the BBC interviewer persists in asking him whether his public contrition over the affair is genuine.

Mr Clinton agreed to take part in the 50-minute interview for the Panorama programme to publicise his autobiography, My Life. It will be broadcast on Tuesday evening.

It is thought to be the first time that he has lost his temper in public on the issue of his liaison with Ms Lewinsky. At first he responds to Mr Dimbleby's questions by mounting an attack on media intrusion. But then his ire is turned on the interviewer.

A BBC spokesman said, "There are some memorable moments. It's quite a thorough interview. The former president has quite a lot to say and the interviewer is quite tough. It's good television."

Mr Clinton, who left office in 2001, is on a marathon tour to promote his book, which comes out this week. It has been given a record first print run of 1.5 million copies.

Publishers Alfred A Knopf paid the former president an advance in excess of $10m (£5.4m) for the autobiography, billed as a candid look at his eight years in office.

In a recent interview with CBS television, he apologised for the Lewinsky affair saying, "I made a terrible moral error. I did something for the worst possible reason - just because I could."