Channel 4 has dropped their main athletics presenter for the ongoing world athletics championships after hundreds complained about gaffe-prone host Ortis Deley.
The presenter, who is best known to UK viewers for hosting The Gadget Show on Channel 5, was completely and painfully out of his depth for the role and had been described by a Times critic as wearing an “expression that brings to mind furry creatures and headlamps”.
Though the championships only began last Saturday, it is believed that his coverage received complaints in the “low hundreds”. Deley will now be replaced by Rick Edwards, a former presenter of teen show T4. Like Deley, he has no experience in presenting athletics coverage whatsoever.
Attempting to downplay their decision to vault Deley from the channel’s coverage, a Channel 4 spokerperson said: “Channel 4 is committed to developing new presenting talent and this extends to our coverage of sporting events.
“Ortis Deley’s role in Korea covering the world athletics has been scaled back but he will continue to be on air for the duration of the competition.
If you’d like to see some of Ortis’ “highlights” from the past few days, take a look at the clip below.
