A TV show to find Britain’s top woodworker has been axed while the producers investigate whether a contestant has Nazi tattoos on his face.
Sky’s history channel sparked outrage on Monday when it posted a trailer for its new series, The Chop: Britain’s Top Woodworker, on twitter.
The show, hosted by Lee Mack and Rick Edwards, pitted 10 of the country's finest carpenters whittle against each other for the chance to stage their own exhibition at the William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow.
The Chop was set to air on Thursday on Sky History. Photo: Sky History
The clip featured a contestant clad head-to-toe in tattoos called Darren Lumsden — a bespoke joiner from Bristol.
An ‘88’ tattoo appears to be visible on his cheek. The number 88 is often used by Nazi groups to symbolise HH – Heil Hitler – as H is the eighth letter of the alphabet.
He also has the numbers 23 and 16 printed on the sides of his head, which have been reported to be used to signify “white power” using the same numerical code.
His scalp also appears to be tattooed with the number 14, which neo-Nazis have been known to use as shorthand for the so-called ‘14 words’ slogan: "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children"
When eagle-eyed viewers first pointed out the tattoos, Sky History’s twitter account was quick to deny Darren’s tattoos had any relation to Nazi symbolism.
Comedian Lee Mack was one of the show's hosts. Photo: PA
A post by the account said: “Darren’s tattoos denote significant events in his life and have no political or ideological meaning whatsoever. Amongst the various numerical tattoos on his body, 1988 is the year of his father’s death.
“The production team carried out extensive background checks on all the woodworkers taking part in the show, that confirmed Darren has no affiliations or links to racist groups, views or comments.”
The show has since been pulled while an investigation is conducted into the tattoos.
A spokesperson for the channel said: “While we investigate the nature and meaning of Darren’s tattoos we have removed the video featuring him from our social media, and will not be broadcasting any episodes of The Chop until we have concluded that investigation.
“Sky History stands against racism and hate speech of all kinds.”
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