He's only got himself to blame - Blackpool folk respond to EastEnders' Jamie Borthwick's suspension after slur

Jamie Borthwick, 30, who plays Jay Brown in the BBC soap opera, is said to have made the offensive remark against people with disabilities on a phone video while the Strictly cast were at Blackpool Tower Ballroom last November.

As first reported by The Sun, the video emerged of the actor, who plays Jay Brown on the soap, using the term to describe the people of Blackpool, the town where the show was being filmed.

In it, he was seen using an offensive term to describe disabled people in Blackpool, the seaside town where the show was being filmed for its annual special.

The Gazette and it’s sister site the Lancashire Evening Post have chosen not to name the word.

Here are some of the your thoughts on the matter:

“So it was a private conversation. Another ‘Storm in a teacup’. Plenty of folks use slurs in private conversations, they don’t mean it as an offence. People should mind their own business.”

“How absolutely ridiculous.”

“Only got himself to blame.”

“The guy was wrong.”

“He didn’t have a leg to stand on.”

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Borthwick, who has since apologised for his remarks, won the Strictly 2023 Christmas special with Nancy Xu, and won the best actor gong at the Inside Soap Awards in September that year.

It is unclear how long his suspension is for or if he will be allowed to return to the BBC show.