BBC Radio 5 Live host Nihal Arthanayake reveals he was racially abused outside a pub in Altrincham by ‘drunk’ man who called him ‘p***’ and used the N-word
- Radio 5 Live host, 51, was waiting for his wife outside pub following a night out
- He took to Twitter last night to describe the ‘weirdness’ of the incident
BBC presenter Nihal Arthanayake has said he was racially abused outside a pub by a ‘drunk’ man who called him a ‘p***’ and used the N-word during a conversation.
The Radio 5 Live host, 51, was waiting for his wife outside the pub in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, following an evening out together.
Mr Arthanayake, who did not reveal the name of the pub, took to Twitter last night to post a video in which he described how he was still trying to process the ‘weirdness’ of the incident.
He said: ‘I don’t really know what just happened. I was in a place called Altrincham, which is a bit of a hole.
‘I was outside this pub, which I’d been in with my wife, dancing around, jumping around etcetera. It was fun. Covers band, they were very good.
The Radio 5 Live host (pictured), 51, was waiting for his wife outside the pub in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, following an evening out together
‘I saw this man sitting outside, I was waiting for my wife to come out, so I said “Can I come and sit with you, can we talk?” and he was like “Yeah, yeah absolutely.” Little, kind of drunk man.
‘We got talking and he said “oh are you a doctor?” So I started laughing because it’s a question as an Asian you might get asked. And I went ‘Well why would you ask that?’
‘And he said “Well, because you’re a p***. And then he went “oh I guess I can’t say p***” then he said the n-word! Then he kind of looked at me and was like “oh sorry, you’re offended aren’t you?” And I said “well why did you say that word?’ He said “I’m sorry I’m a massive…” and used the c-word.
‘I said “You’re not a massive c-word, you’re just an average one. Dictators are massive c-words, you’re just an average one.” It was so weird.
‘But you know when you come to some of these areas, I think there’s just some people who still think they can say that word.’
Mr Arthanayake, who did not reveal the name of the pub, took to Twitter last night to post a video in which he described how he was still trying to process the ‘weirdness’ of the incident
Since posting the video, Mr Arthanayake has been flooded with messages of support.
The Coral’s singer James Skelly said: ‘That’s horrible. Sorry to hear that happened to you mate.’
Another social media user said: ‘Sorry to hear this happened in the town we live and work in. There are decent people here so sad this racist spoilt your visit to town.’
A third added: ‘Did u hit 88mph and go back to the future? Sad state of affairs this day and age irrespective of location.’
