Frank Skinner on why he turned down Benefits Street
Frank Skinner has revealed he turned down the job of narrating Channel 4's Benefits Street as he did not want to be critical of people from Birmingham.
According to the Birmingham Mail, the comedian was told the series would be about "community spirit" in James Turner Street, but he was "a bit worried about the topic".
“I thought ‘I don’t really want to be involved in something where I’m derogatory about people from Birmingham’", Skinner said.
“The production company sent me a couple of clips which were very nice", but he added: "They only showed me a very small part of a five-episode series, and I wondered what the rest would be like."
The documentary has received some criticised for its portrayal of people on benefits and some residents have claimed they were misled by film-makers.
Channel 4 has said that it was "very clear and transparent" with those taking part about the nature of the programme it envisaged.