BBC apologises for Bartoli 'never going to be a looker' comment

BBC presenter John Inverdale suggested Marion Bartoli was “never going to be a looker” on Radio 5 Live, shortly after she defeated Sabine Lisicki to win the women’s final on Centre Court. Inverdale told listeners: “Do you think Bartoli’s dad told her when she was little: ‘You’re never going to be a looker, you’ll never be a Sharapova, so you have to be scrappy and fight’? The BBC presenter had later said that he poked fun at Bartoli’s looks “in a nice way”. He added: “She is an incredible role model for people who aren’t born with all the attributes of natural athletes”. [caption id=“attachment_937223” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] French tennis player Marion Bartoli arrives for the Wimbledon Champions Dinner. AP[/caption] The BBC later apologised for the comments, saying: “We accept this was insensitive and for that we apologise.” Indeed, and it wasn’t even an attempt to be funny. However, Bartoli showed great maturity in dealing with the situation: “It doesn’t matter, honestly. I am not blonde, yes. That is a fact. Have I dreamt about having a model contract? No. I’m sorry. But have I dreamed about winning Wimbledon? Absolutely, yes. And to share this moment with my dad was absolutely amazing and I am so proud of it. “I am sure I will be able to watch the DVD of the match over and over again and look at the picture of me when I am holding the trophy in my arms. That is the most important thing to me and not what I can do outside of the court.” Time for Inverdale to take a few pointers from Bartoli perhaps.