Shane Richie, best known for playing Alfie Moon on ‘Eastenders’, was cut from a Children in Need quiz last Friday after offending members of S Club 7 backstage with a homophobic “joke”.

While sharing a lift with three of the female members of the newly reunited S Club 7, Richie called out to people about to enter the lift saying, “Hurry up! Last person in is a gay!”

S Club 7’s Tina Barrett, Jo O’Meara and Hannah Spearritt did not not find the joke funny – understandable, considering that bandmate Jon Lee came out in Gay Times back in 2010.

S Club 7 were uncomfortable taking part in the Children in Need quiz alongside the soap star and said they’d pull out. Richie was then cut from the televised quiz.

The Sun reported that a source close to Richie said he didn’t mean any offence, saying, “The comments were clearly meant as a joke. To suggest he intended any offence couldn’t be further from the truth.”

S Club 7 performed as a full group for the first time in 12 years at BBCs Children in Need last weekend.  They are now playing a reunion tour, and have already sold out London’s O2 Arena.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ATGXLFAXFA