Clare Balding’s apology for ‘inexcusable’ comment that landed BBC in hot water | Other | Sport
Clare Balding was once the subject of over 2000 Ofcom complaints after the broadcaster made a jibe about jockey Liam Treadwell’s teeth. Balding is revered as one of the finest broadcasters of her generation, and has been working for the BBC in some capacity for over 25 years.
Often the face of the Beeb’s sport coverage, from the Olympics to Wimbledon, this particular incident came back in 2009 when Balding was covering the Grand National. In front of a live TV audience of eight million people, Balding made a comment about winning jockey Treadwell, having ordered him to “give us a big grin to the camera”.
After doing so, Balding replied: “No, no, let’s see your teeth. He hasn’t got the best teeth in the world, but you can afford to go and get them done now if you like.”
The jockey had shocked the nation with his win, having been 100-1 with his horse Mon Mome before the Aintree race got underway. Treadwell, slightly taken aback by Balding’s comments, responded: “Well I could do, but I ain’t complaining. It might be bringing on bad luck if I do that, though.”
The comments understandably caused outrage at the time, with Liam’s mother, Lorraine Treadwell, labelling the remark as “shocking”. On the back of the wall-to-wall press coverage, Treadwell even received offers from dentists to fix his teeth for him, free of charge – an offer the jockey could not refuse.
The BBC were quick to release an apology, stating they are sorry for any offence caused on Balding’s behalf. It read: “We acknowledge that some of our viewers were unhappy with the comments made by Clare Balding to Liam Treadwell on the programme.
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“Clare Balding had no intention whatsoever of upsetting or embarrassing Liam Treadwell, but she fully accepts that she shouldn’t have raised the subject with him. The BBC and Clare apologise for any offence caused. Clare has also apologised directly to Liam Treadwell.”
The presenter, who had been diagnosed with thyroid cancer months earlier, said: “It was a terrible thing to do. It coincided with my illness and I believed that was it for me – I would never work again. It was inexcusable and it taught me a big lesson.”
Treadwell’s victory remains one of the biggest shocks in Grand National history, but tragedy struck in 2020 when he passed away aged 34. Balding once again revisited the incident during an interview with The Telegraph in 2024, saying: “I did an awful thing and I genuinely didn’t mean any harm.
“I was probably just trying to be funny and I misjudged it completely. You know, obviously, what’s happened since makes it very difficult to talk about. Liam’s mum and I are in touch fairly regularly. Sorry, I just can’t believe he’s not here.”
