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Written by Staff Writer
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May 14, 2007 at 11:38 AM |
TV star Chris Tarrant has dismissed claims he assaulted a man in a curry house as "utter nonsense".
The Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? host was arrested after a fellow diner claimed the star threw cutlery at him and cut his arm.
Tarrant, 60, was eating with two colleagues at the MemSaab restaurant in Nottingham when the assault allegedly took place.
The star said the "mythical alleged assault" occurred after he bantered with the man and his girlfriend.
He told Sky News: "It is just utter nonsense. There was no aggro, there was no temper, there was no problem."
But he admitted that he did jokingly "lob" some cutlery onto the couple's table after asking them to leave him alone to discuss work with his colleagues.
Tarrant said he did not know if he threw "a spoon, a fork, a napkin - whatever" but that he chatted with the couple later and they were fine.
Asked if he should have risen above any jibes, he replied: "Yes, I should have done. It was just a bit of horseplay."
He added: "I've had people come up to me and pour beer over my head, but I don't turn around and smack them. It's part of your life and I accept it, but this one was kind of weird."
Tarrant said the first he knew of the assault claim was when police arrested him at his hotel half an hour after he left the restaurant on Sunday night. He was taken to a police station, interviewed under caution and released on bail several hours later.
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire's host has claimed that his arrest for assult at a curry house in Nottingham, is "Utter Nonsense".
"I've had people come up to me and pour beer over my head, but I don't turn around and smack them. It's part of your life and I accept it, but this one was kind of weird."
He told Sky News: "It is just utter nonsense. There was no aggro, there was no temper, there was no problem."
According to his spokesman, Tarrant had jokingly dropped cutlery onto the table of a couple with whom he had chatted, after having a couple of pints and sharing a bottle of red wine.
According to his spokesman, Tarrant had jokingly dropped cutlery onto the table of a couple with whom he had chatted.
"There was no physical contact, no unpleasantness and no hostility," said the former Tiswas host's publicist.
"It was just part of the ongoing banter between the two tables."
He said Tarrant had had two pints of beer over the course of the day and had shared a bottle of red wine at the restaurant with a colleague.
"Ten minutes later, Chris said he was aware of raised voices. He sees the bloke leaving the restaurant and assumed he had a row with his girlfriend," his representative continued.
"Chris goes back to the Plaza Hotel directly opposite. Half an hour later four flak-jacketed police officers turn up and arrest him on suspicion of assault."
Talking to Sky News, Tarrant referred to the "mythical alleged assault" and dismissed it as "just utter nonsense. There was no aggro, there was no temper, there was no problem".
But he admitted that he did jokingly "lob" some cutlery onto the couple's table after asking them to leave him alone to discuss work with his colleagues.
Asked if he should have risen above any jibes, he replied: "Yes, I should have done. It was just a bit of horseplay." |
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Last Updated ( May 14, 2007 at 11:39 AM )
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