The BBC has had to pull an episode of Christmas University Challenge off the air after two contestants, who have disabilities, were left feeling 'distressed' during filming.
One contestant, who is blind, described their experience on the show as "distressing" in a chat with BBC News, while another contestant reportedly had their request for subtitles denied.
The BBC confirmed that the episode won't be aired because the two contestants felt "their access requirements were not sufficiently met by the production". They also added that the "individuals and teams concerned" have received an apology following the incident.
According to BBC News, one contestant, who is blind, was promised audio description for the now-cancelled festive episode but it didn't happen.
Another contestant, who is neurodivergent, apparently had their request for subtitles turned down. Both contestants had made their disabilities and access needs known before filming.
Christmas University Challenge, a festive version of the BBC Two quiz show, features teams of distinguished alumni competing on behalf of their former universities and is hosted by Amol Rajan.
The production company behind the show is Lifted Entertainment, which is part of ITV studios.
"One minute before the show, we were told there was no audio description and that your captain will instead have to explain everything," one of the contestants shared with BBC News.
They described the experience as "distressing".
The second contestant said the experience was "overwhelming and overstimulating", and it affected their ability to function for a week afterwards.
BBC News revealed that the two contestants contacted the BBC to complain after the episode was filmed.
They asked for the episode not to be shown. On Friday [1 December], it was confirmed that the episode won't be aired and has been removed from the schedule
Both contestants said they "greatly appreciated" the decision and offered to help make University Challenge more inclusive.
A spokesperson for the BBC confirmed the decision to the Mirror on Friday: "We can confirm that an episode in the upcoming series of Alumni University Challenge will not be broadcast because two of the contestants felt their access requirements were not sufficiently met by the production."
"We are working closely with producers to improve cross industry access on our programmes to ensure a consistent approach is implemented. We would like to apologise to the individuals and teams concerned, and they have been written to personally by the producers."
A representative for Lifted Entertainment said: "During the pre-filming briefing for this episode, two contestants requested that certain adjustments be made in order for them to be able to fully participate. However, following the recording, we were made aware that the adjustments made fell short of their requirements."
"We have spoken to the individuals involved and offered our sincere apologies. Having listened very carefully to their descriptions of their experiences, we agreed with the BBC that the fairest course of action was not to screen this particular edition."
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