Sir Elton John sparked a rash of viewer complaints when he unleashed an expletive on live television on May 9, 2006.

He was appearing on Channel Four’s The New Paul O’Grady Show to celebrate the first anniversary of the Billy Elliot musical, for which he wrote the music.

But he shocked some onlookers with his candid answer to a question posed by one of the musical’s young stars about his unusual middle name.

Sir Elton revealed the answer was Hercules, joking his real name of Reginald Kenneth Dwight had made him sound like a “banker ... or a w*****, one of the two”.

As show host Paul O’Grady looked a little stunned, he added: “It wasn’t going to be Gladys, was it?”

A spokeswoman for Channel Four confirmed about 20 viewers had complained in the immediate aftermath of the tea-time show, which airs betwen 5pm and 6pm.

She said O’Grady had apologised at the end of the broadcast, saying “sorry if it has been a bit raucous, ladies and gentlemen”.

She added: “It is a live programme and I don’t think it is the strongest language, and we feel that Paul dealt with it appropriately. It is a live show and obviously Elton is a guest but Paul dealt with it there and then and apologised.”

Back to Headlines