Channel 4 hits back after Ant Middleton claims ‘inappropriate comments’ to female staff were ‘banter’

This is gonna rage on for a while

Channel 4 has hit back at claims by former SAS: Who Dares Wins host Ant Middleton that any "inappropriate" comments he had made to female staff at the show were just "banter". Since his sacking, Middleton has appeared on ITV in a bid to tell his own side of the story. In doing so he refuted any allegations that his behaviour was inappropriate. But in a statement released to the Mirror, a Channel 4 spokesperson reiterated their account that Middleton was sacked purely due to his "personal conduct off-camera". The statement read: “Our decision not to renew Ant Middleton’s contract and not to work with him again was solely based on his personal conduct off-camera and is not related to his on-screen persona as a DS. “SAS: Who Dares Wins will continue to be as tough as it’s ever been.” Calling out "snowflakes" and PC culture during his interview on Good Morning Britain with Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid, Middleton claimed that any comments he made which were deemed "inappropriate" were in fact banter. "The inappropriate comments, it's all smoke and mirrors, from the last episode it became a half scripted reality show and full control was taken from me," he said. "I was done with SAS: Who Dares Wins they knew that I was going and then all of a sudden they drop this bomb, I've been axed. "They're just protecting their brand, they knew I was going. "We say inappropriate things and do inappropriate things, if you get offended by them that's the show, the comments weren't made directly, it's what someone's seen on the show. "It's never direct, there's a new protocol on set that if people feel offended then they can complain anonymously, someone has probably seen military banter or humour, it's something indirect that they've seen and felt offended by. "If you're a snowflake you don't belong on the SAS set - this isn't Dancing On Ice."