THE LEADER of the Scottish Conservatives has volunteered himself to appear on hit show Gogglebox amid complaints of a lack of Scottish representation.

Douglas Ross said he was a “big fan” of the show during a session of the Scottish Affairs Committee today.

MPs were taking evidence from Channel 4 chief executive Alex Mahon and the channel’s commissioning editor Deborah Dunnett about privatisation, Scottish audiences and complaints from Scottish viewers when the MP volunteered himself and his wife to appear.

It came after he quizzed the two witnesses on why there had not been a Scottish family on the programme since 2016, when the Manuel family from Glasgow appeared but created controversy when their Rangers football club mug was blurred out by show bosses.

Mr Ross said asked what complaints the channel had had from Scots viewers, with the witnesses explaining that a lack of representation on some of their biggest programmes can generate criticism.

Ms Mahon said: “We don't have a lack of representation on one of our biggest shows Bake Off which had a Scottish winner for the first time, I'm delighted to say, but we do get complaints about the lack of representation on Gogglebox, which is one of our biggest shows.”

Mr Ross then asked the reason for the lack of a Scottish family on the popular programme, which shows real families sitting in their living rooms discussing television programmes, often in a comical manner.

Ms Mahon explained: “I've been asking questions since 2017 [about] why there hasn't been, and I know myself there have been problems with can they get a family? Can they get the production methodology to work given distance? But it is a continued pressure from us to solve it.”

The Moray MP then admitted he and his wife watched the programme regularly, saying: “ So I'm a big fan of Gogglebox and my wife and I watch it every week.

“In fact we could be…we could be part of it.”

His fellow committee members could be heard laughing in the background at the suggestion, before the MP said it perhaps was not a “viable option”.

The witnesses were asked for the reasons behind the lack of Scottish people on the prime-time show, and suggested there were issues with timescales and production.

Ms Mahon said:  I'm very glad you volunteered and both your family, and the snacks - an important element.

“Your core point is right, it would be better to have a Scottish family on it. I know, briefly investigating, that we haven't yet both found a family and superseded our production difficulties on it but it is a goal for us to do that.

“And I think you're right to flag that there was a lack of representation on that show.”

Ms Dunnett then explained there were issues with production and the timing of getting the clips from the show turned around on time, however Mr Ross said their explanations were “rubbish”.

He questioned how there could be a family in Wales, but none from Scotland, and added: “With all due respect to our two witnesses… that seems like complete rubbish.

“We spent the entire hour today so far speaking about how good channel four is because they get to all the most remote parts of Scotland; up to the islands, up to Dunnet, Dunnet’s head and other places in Scotland yet we can't get clips of a family in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Perth, Moray, North East Fife or anywhere. It’s just crazy.”

The two witnesses also revealed that they receive complaints from Scots if their programmes appear to be too England-centric, or if geographical descriptions are not specific enough.

Ms Dunnett said: “We do get complaints if we refer to places as Scotland, rather than the region or the town or city that they were based in.

“We would get complaints if we were stereotyping... So some of the things I mentioned earlier on that [such as] bagpipes or shortbread. And then if there's an English centricity. So, you know, attitudes around football or the monarchy, things like that. Those would be general themes.  I have seen examples of those, and they were few and far between.”