Why the DOND people let him on in the first place I dont know.

There's this guy at college I know who seems really cool, he's into trance music, clubbing and all that. I reckon he'd be well good on DOND.

Well it's important to have a diverse amount of personalities to help attract as many viewers as possible I suppose.

Marcus was a good entertainer, but as you said hes a complete poof!

If that bloke you know likes trance music and clubbing he will probably be too off his face to make an appearence on DOND.

Hahahaha....agreed

What's that got to do with anything?

Don't be a moron just for the sake of it! It was a light hearted comment. Nothing offensive implied.

So don't try and turn it into a big issue by asking stupid questions!

*shakes head* Never mind - don't want to get into an argument here. If there was nothing offensive implied than so be it, but to other people it could be offensive, whether you meant it as such or not! "Moron" - pfft, charming.

Must say, when I read that I wondered what the point of saying it was. He cheered me up when I was down, and I thought he was hilarious! Never mind.

Sorry crutlew got to agree with never_wrong there.

You will have noticed I removed Jeremy Kyle's Dad's post due to the content of his post, unfortunately I overlooked your comment as your post would have gone the same way.

Why the petty name-calling? Yes, Marcus was a good entertainer, but what was the point of the next line? I'm afraid it doesn't come across as a light hearted comment to me, if was meant to be light hearted why use the word 'complete'? This to me implies it's more than a light hearted remark.

I second that, kestral.

Perhaps my comment was a bit petty and unnecessary. To be honest though I find it even pettier that you lot are making such a big deal out of it.

In future I will try to keep my comments 100% politically correct, and if I feel the urge to say something even the slightest bit controversial, I shall hit myself over the head with my keyboard.

I don't think its a case of political correctness, its more a case of common decency. And even if that is political correctness, whats wrong with that? Political correctness is in many ways intrinsic to a society that seeks to be inclusive, in my opinion. As such, I feel strongly that we shouldn't insult people in this kind of way. What might be a joke to one person could be extremely offensive to another. Its not like you're being censored simply for having an opinion, but rather that your expressed view causes offense to another, in which case it is only right that someone should pick up on it and say so. I'm sure you didn't mean any harm by it, but that is not to say such opinions therefore have a place on this board as they are potentially inflammatory, as we have seen.

Very well put Maltus. You have to remember that if Marcus read the board (which is not impossible considering the large number of ex-contestants already visiting this site), he'd hardly be thrilled to see such a word.

Besides, all I asked in the first place was clarification on why you used that word, rather than "making a big deal of it" like you said, crutlew. In fact, it was your reply ("moron?") that made more of the situation than was necessary.

Random ramblings Sorry if this is a bit off topic !!
If my comments are about someone else I have more recently developed a habit of re-reading my posts before I post them and deciding if I would say that if the person concerned was in front of me. If not then I think of a better way to express my opinion, I do not change my opinion however - just phrase it in a more approprate manner. Its all a matter of common courtesy in my humble opinion.

Free speech is a wonderful thing and no-one should ever try and stop someone from expressing their opinion. However, appropriateness of language and validity of argument will always be a factor in this. If someone expresses their opinion in a manner not appropriate for the forum it will endanger our opportunity for free speech. The moderators are doing a great job in helping us to keep this though In saying this I am not hinting that anything on this forum is in danger of this whatsoever - just perhaps a small reminder for us all to remember that this is a diverse forum and young children read this as well as adults.

Right - I'll step down off my soapbox now

I dont think he would really be that bothered (after all he has just won 31k), he obviously wants to provoke reactions like this, otherwise why else would he go on national telivision acting so extremely camp?

I fail to see how you can make a comment like that, how do you know if Marcus would be bothered or not? Just because he may have came across 'camp' doesn't automatically give anyone the right make offensive remarks about him.

There have been some excellant comments here about free speech and common decency, which you will find the majority of the members here agree with.

There are clear rules posted on the forums regarding use of language and personal comments made about people. These are designed to help protect both members of the forum and people they may be writing about.

I know, as you have pointed it out a number of times that you think this is being made a big deal of, but this type of comment and personal remark will not be welcomed here.

I'll step down off my soap-box as well now neefs

He was being himself. Nothing more.

Your comment is akin to asking why I went on national television so obviously disabled, or why other people went on tv while being so short / tall / black / white, etc. Everyone on there is just being themself.

Of all the people I met, any "playing up" was nerves, or getting into the swing of it, or in Mike's case trying to lift the mood after Trevor had just won 1p. Everyone is just who they are. If you don't like them, that's fine.

From my own perspective, I went to play the game, I don't care about being on TV and in fact I'm not really looking forward to seeing my face fill the screen. It's not Big Brother. Nobody was trying to get a career presenting some ropey satellite tv programme out of it We were simply being ourselves, and if your opinions about the people are offensive or what you might consider not "PC" (I hold back from saying "bigotted") then I would suggest you keep them to yourself.

I'll shut up on this topic now.

But if Marcus reads this, I hope he knows he also has a lot of fans, and some real friends from his time on DOND.

he he he, I hear what you say Flash ! It took some deciding for me to go to the audition as I swore I didn't want to be on tv again (even though my previous foray was only a couple of minutes and no-one, I mean no-one! saw it lol). If, and as the time ticks on that 'if' gets bigger and bigger, I do get on the show - it will be about playing the game and not about being on tv. This seems to be the case for the majority of players, and if it isn;t and they (shock horror) actually want to be on tv - then more power to them as at least they are trying to do something about their dreams.

I unfortunately didn't get to see Marcus' show but the great thing about DOND is that they fill the show will people from all walks of life and all ages, therefore making it feel like a more personal win or lose when a contestant we have affiliated ourselves to plays the game. It is, i have to say, a very clever way to build viewers. It also means that even though its the same format ..... every single day is different Hurrah !!

I don’t recall saying "I know", oh yes that’s because I didn't.

If you actually go back and read what I wrote, you will see that what I actually said was "I think".

That’s right I was simply casting my opinion.

Perhaps I am wrong, maybe Marcus would be bothered, he could be mortified that I said what I did, he might even be having sleepless nights about it!

Personally I don’t think he would, I think Marcus has probably lived a much less sheltered life than most of the people on this forum.

Well said banker!

Since I've kept quiet on this....debate, and now everything has calmed down, I'd just like to agree with many of you that have posted...I think Marcus is great and I see no reason why anybody can insult anyone. Whether it was light-hearted or not, I still see words such as 'poof' and 'camp' to be insults, and I think we should keep our thoughts to ourselves....and now I'm just contradicting myself since I'm posting my thoughts