Ross does sick OAP sex gag

THE FOUL mouth of shamed Jonathan Ross put his BBC career on a new knife-edge yesterday-just minutes after he returned to Radio 2 from his three-month suspension.

The mega-bucks star's crude joke about sex with an 86-year-old woman infuriated listeners.

And last night as it emerged that the woman is a REAL PERSON with ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE there were mounting calls for Ross to be SACKED from his £6 million-a-year job.

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The shocking blunder came while ad-libbing on air with producer Andy Davies about an elderly woman neighbour then urging him to "give her one last night".

They were a mere eight minutes and 35 seconds into yesterday's big comeback show following Ross's Beeb ban over the Sachsgate scandal, when he and comedian Russell Brand left filthy phone messages for 78-year-old actor Andrew Sachs.

It came just after 10 o'clock in the morning when families and children were listening.

Ross, 48, and freelance 43-year-old Davies had been discussing how they spent their time during the suspension.

Davies said he did some bricklaying in the garden of his villa in Spain but kept getting grabbed by a frisky 80-year-old woman.

Ross finished up by declaring: "Eighty, oh God! I think you should, just for charity.

"Give her one last night, will you? One last night before the grave. Would it kill you?"

The banter ended abruptly there without any explanation. The Ting Tings' record That's Not My Name was played and the pair did not return to the story afterwards.

It's not known if Ross was ordered to stop the sequence.

But reaction was swift. Tory MP David Davies was listening to the show with his young children and demanded the BBC immediately sack Ross.

He raged: "On Radio 2 you don't expected X-rated references to sex, and especially sex with an 80-year-old, during the day.

"I was listening with my kids to this. There's a place for humour but it has to be appropriate to the time of the day. And that clearly wasn't.

John Whittingdale, Tory Culture chief

"He should have gone ages ago. There's no way this man should be on the air. He needs to be replaced now!

"It's obscene, especially given the amount of money Ross is being paid. It could also be highly offensive to this woman if she's a real person."

Last night at producer Davies's home near Granada in Southern Spain his wife Abigail-who listened to the broadcast there-confirmed that the pensioner DOES exist.

She said: "It's very sad because she has Alzheimer's Disease. She takes a fancy to any man in the street and tries to kiss them."

Giggling, she added: "I shouldn't be laughing because, as I say, it's very sad, and she doesn't really realise what she's doing.

"I sometimes walk her home because she gets confused about where she is."

Meanwhile former Home Secretary David Blunkett called for Ross's pay to be docked as a result of this latest incident. He said: "It's time for Ross to donate some of his salary to charity."

Regular Radio 2 listener Nigel Langstone, 43, from Leamington, Warwickshire, was furious over Ross's comments and said: "I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

Ex Home Sec David Blunkett

"He gets kicked off air for three months for hounding an old man with disgusting comments about his grand-daughter.

"Then virtually the first thing he does after getting back is start telling a gag about sex with an 80-year-old woman. How insensitive can you be?

"It just shows he's learned absolutely nothing and is a loose cannon who can't be controlled.

"What's worse is that the exchange happened with his own producer-the man who's supposed to control him.

"The BBC is totally OUT of control. They've no idea how much offence they're causing.

"Ross should be taken off air immediately. He's a timebomb waiting to go off."

Ross's latest gaffe came a day after BBC bosses heavily censored his comeback TV show, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross.

Mediawatch director John Beyer

Mediawatch, which campaigns for "socially responsible broadcasting", last night joined the call for the star to go.

Director John Beyer said: "Making jokes like this is not acceptable. He should have gone three months ago and I haven't changed my view."

But Sir Michael Lyons, chairman of the BBC Trust, refused to condemn Ross. He even declined to listen to a transcript of the crass comments and said: "You're not going to expect me to make any comment on this, are you?"

BBC Director-General Mark Thompson - on £816,000 a year of licence-payers money - REFUSED to discuss the incident and hung up on us.

Later the corporation defended Ross in a statement which said: "Regular listeners will be familiar with Jonathan's irreverence and innuendo.

Sir Michael Lyons, BBC Trust chairman

"This light-hearted exchange contained no offensive language, named no individuals and there was clearly no intention to offend anyone."

But Ross himself was clearly embarrassed as he tried to wriggle out of his latest gaffe when he was confronted by the News of the World at his £3 million home in Hampstead, North London, last night.

At first his wife Jane answered the door and insisted he had done nothing wrong. But when we asked if Ross was hiding behind his wife he came to the door and said: "I hope no one has been upset by the show.

"It was a kind of light-hearted remark about giving her a cuddle.

"It wasn't 'give her one'-I meant, 'Give her one last cuddle.' You know there was no malice intended. There was no harm intended, OK?"

That was at 5.30pm. But two hours later he issued a statement through his public relations expert attempting to wriggle yet further and shift the blame.

Tory MP David Davies

His second version of what happened said: "It was a spontaneous, light-hearted remark made in response to an anecdote set in Spain, where no one was named or ever likely to hear the broadcast.

"As far as I was concerned, the story may even have been apocryphal or exaggerated for comedic purposes, as is common practice on radio and comedy shows across the country.

"Absolutely no offence to any individual was intended and, if the media wasn't hell bent on stirring up controversy, I'm sure none would be taken."

In fact, the story was completely ACCURATE, as confirmed by Andy Davies's wife.

She also contradicted Ross by pointing out that she-like thousands of other ex-pats who listen in on the internet-heard the whole show perfectly clearly at her Spanish home.

PREVIOUS VICTIM: Sachs, 78

Strangely her husband, who commutes from Spain to London, last night claimed in a statement issued through Radio 2 and approved by senior BBC bosses: "It is completely untrue to suggest that I was referring to a real individual on the programme, nor would I have told such a story about anyone suffering from dementia.

"The story was poetic licence based on the warm and affectionate behaviour experienced in Spanish village life. I did not identify an individual because there isn't one."

Yet three hours earlier, in a phone interview with the News of the World, his wife Abigail had confirmed she actually KNOWS the woman, she DOES have Alzheimer's and even gave us the pensioner's name.

She is well-known to locals but we are keeping her identity secret to protect her privacy.

The smut they cut

JONATHAN Ross's TV comeback had to be CLEANED UP before it was broadcast on Friday after he made a series of foul-mouthed gaffes.

Worried execs cut a string of smutty remarks during Friday Night With Jonathan Ross-back on screen for the first time since his three-month suspension.

A record 5.1 million viewers tuned in to see the 48-year-old's TV return with guests Tom Cruise, Stephen Fry and Lee Evans.

But they saw a toned down version of the show in which Wossy apologised for his part in the obscene phone calls scandal.

Today, the News of the World can reveal the comments that had to be deleted.

First Ross ticked off comic Lee for swearing, calling him a "f*****g foul-mouth".

WOSSY ON ABOUT? Jonathan chats to Cruise

Then he launched into four-letter and smutty jokes during Tom Cruise's interview.

He said: "F**k you" when the Hollywood superstar teasingly asked if Ross would appear on US TV if Cruise were to host a chat show.

Later he asked Tom to feel his biceps, making a crude sexual reference to why one arm was bigger than the other.

All references to Sachsgate partner-in-crime Russell Brand were also cut.

At one stage his photo appeared on the studio video screens prompting Ross to joke: "No, no, my life is flashing before my eyes."

He also told Cruise: "Let's go out in town and get suspended," if he wanted more time off.

A stunned audience member said: "Jonathan has clearly not learned his lesson. He was as crude and foul-mouthed as ever."

Last night a BBC spokeswoman would only say: "The show goes through the same editorial process as every BBC programme."

Mediawatch praised the BBC for removing offensive content. Director John Beyer said: "I am glad they have taken a stand."

IS BEEB RIGHT TO KEEP HIM?

CULTURE chief John Whittingdale questioned last whether the BBC should continue their relationship with Ross after his latest shame.

He said: "The question is: Are the BBC going to employ Jonathan Ross at all? We all know that is what he does. There may be an argument that they shouldn't be employing him at all.

"If they are, then they're going to have that sort of behaviour. It's a core of what he does-pushing the boundaries.

Mr Whittingdale, Tory chairman of Parliament's Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, added: "The BBC need to decide whether or not they want to be in that market.

"They need to make a judgment about whether or not they want to be there."

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