Rylan Clark returned to BBC Radio 2 this Saturday after two weeks away filming his Channel 4 series, Dating Naked UK, and quickly caused chaos live on air, jokingly telling bosses to "sack me" over the broadcaster's strict advertising rules.
The 37-year-old former X Factor star was back at the helm of his show, Rylan On Saturday, alongside co-star Sally Boazman and guest Professor Green. Delightfully announcing "I'm back!" as he resumed his radio duties, Rylan thanked Owain Wyn Evans for covering for him before getting up to his usual mischief with traffic reporter Sally.
Two truths and a lie leads to trouble
Following an impromptu game of two truths and a lie, Sally told Rylan: "You're back and you're already causing trouble", before further chaos ensued as the host drew attention to Sally saying something that sounded like a rude word.
During her traffic report, Sally showed her appreciation to a listener who had called in to inform her of a situation on the roads, saying: "Thank you Anker for your call," as Rylan cheekily interjected: "Who?" before Sally chuckled and repeated the name.
He continued: "Oh, alright. I wondered what you said then! My God, I thought, what a way to go out," as Sally continued the joke by replying: "Yeah, it's been lovely working here." She added: "I'm sure that was [her name], sometimes the phone messages get a bit blurred," before Rylan quipped: "You don't want to blur that one, I'm telling you now!"
Rylexa and BBC rules
The chaos didn't stop there, as Rylan went on to jokingly suggest he "didn't care" about the BBC's rules while rapper Professor Green, real name Stephen Paul Manderson, took part in his Rylexa feature, inspired by Amazon's voice assistant Alexa.
Introducing the game, Rylan said: "I've been creating a new artificial intelligence machine called Rylexa, I'm looking for people to buy shares in it. If you want, we can talk after the show." Being aware of the broadcaster's impartiality guidelines, which are in place because UK viewers fund the BBC through the TV licence fee, Professor Green responded: "Sure. There are other AI platforms that you can invest in, isn't that what you've got to say on the BBC?"
Rylan cheekily exclaimed: "But they're not Rylexa! Who cares? Sack me!" The Read All About It hitmaker then pleaded with the BBC: "No! Don't sack him, I'll stop listening!"
Previous apology for foul language
It comes after Rylan and his co-star Vernon Kay previously had to apologise on behalf of Texas singer Sharleen Spiteri, who used some foul language during her set at BBC Radio 2 In The Park in September. The Scottish singer, 58, apparently thought any swear words would be bleeped out by the BBC when she shouted: "F*** this!" during a lunchtime performance, which was being live streamed on both Radio 2 and BBC iPlayer.
