A BBC presenter who has been praised by the corporation for connecting with young male audiences has a history of making abusive and misogynistic comments about women, calling them “slags,” “sluts,” “psychos,” and “bitches,” the Guardian can reveal.
Ashley Cain hosts the BBC Three documentary series Ashley Cain: Into the Danger Zone, which was filmed earlier this year after the BBC ordered a second series. Cain, a former footballer turned reality TV star, travels to some of the world’s most dangerous places to interview young men living on the edges of society.
Before joining the BBC, Cain was a heavy user of X, formerly known as Twitter. He often used abusive terms for women in his tweets, made jokes about hitting women, and referenced degrading sexual acts. He also sent abusive messages with offensive sexual language to female users of the platform. In 2014, after a now-deleted tweet he thought was homophobic, Cain told one female user to “go and choke on a cock you slut.” In 2015, he wrote to another woman: “The only thing that’s desperate around here is your pictures with your shit tits. Now suck a dick, and fuck off.”
These posts, along with dozens of others that were publicly available, raise questions about what checks the BBC carried out before hiring him. Late on Wednesday, Cain’s X account appeared to have been removed. Cain did not respond to multiple requests for comment. A BBC spokesperson said: “We are very clear we expect the highest standards of behaviour from everyone who works with or for the BBC. When allegations are brought to our attention, we take them seriously. We will consider this information carefully and do not intend to comment further at this stage.”
A source at the BBC said the corporation was not aware of Cain’s social media posts. These revelations could be the first major test for the BBC’s new director general, Matt Brittin, who joined last month after a series of scandals involving misconduct by BBC presenters.
BBC executives have previously praised Cain’s “exceptional” ability to connect with young men and promoted him on the broadcaster’s youth-focused channel, describing him as “what BBC Three is about.” He also appeared on the BBC’s flagship show Celebrity MasterChef in 2025, reaching the semi-finals.
When the BBC first commissioned Into the Danger Zone, filmed in 2024 and aired in 2025, there were already clear warnings in the public domain about his controversial background. Cain had previously appeared on an MTV reality show, where he was known for saying “you can’t turn a hoe into a housewife.” A newspaper article from 2015, easily found online, reported an incident where a woman claimed he uploaded footage of them having sex to Snapchat without her consent. At the time, Cain said she had agreed to the footage being shared, adding: “Everyone knows what happens on my Snapchat.”
Around the time of the Snapchat incident, Cain frequently tweeted abusive jokes about hitting and slapping women. While watching an episode of the ITV reality show Love Island in 2015, he tweeted that if he were a contestant, he “would have to choke slam” female contestant Jessica Hayes “real quick.” On another occasion, he insulted Hayes again, saying he would like to “dick fuck her and her big mouth, spit in her face and then fuck her off.” While watching a 2012 Channel 4 documentary, Cain tweeted that he wanted to “talcum powder pimp slap these bitches already!” He also posted about sexual practices that blur the lines of consent or that…Many people would find these comments offensive. In 2011, he joked about an extreme sex act involving semen, describing how it would be done to a “chick” or “bitch.”
Two years later, in 2013, Cain posted a tweet joking that “eating bad food at weekends is like when a girl says, ‘Don’t cum in me’, but you do it anyway, then think ‘shit’,” and added three laughing emojis.
In 2014, he tweeted: “A girl bangs 100 guys = Slag. A guy bangs 100 girls = Ledge.” That same year, he also tweeted: “I DO NOT.. I repeat I DO NOT think EVERY girl is a slag! There are some absolute PHENOMENAL women out there.. They’re just a rare commodity.”
View image in fullscreen: Cain in a scene from Into the Danger Zone, which originally aired on BBC Three. Photograph: BBC
In 2015, he wrote: “I know some sluts that think they’re not sluts cuz they slut discreetly. Lol.” In 2017, he wrote: “You’ll never see a good girl trying to prove to you she’s a good girl, she’s naturally different.”
While these comments are several years old, the fact that most of them have been on Cain’s public X account for over a decade raises questions about the BBC’s vetting process, given his controversial background.
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A former reality TV star with 2.1 million followers on Instagram, Cain first became well-known through the MTV reality show Ex on the Beach, which led him to call himself “the bad boy of MTV.” During its first season, which aired in 2014, Cain twice tried to attack male cast members and was sent home early from the show after his second attempted assault.
His on-screen girlfriend described him as “controlling.” Referring to her in an on-camera interview after an argument, Cain said: “I’m quite a lenient guy, and I kind of let her do what she wants to do, and I don’t put the reins on her, but obviously it’s gone to show that that’s not a good thing.” Cain later returned for later seasons of the show.
Since his daughter Azaylia died of leukemia in 2021, he has become a well-known fundraiser. He set up a foundation in her name and has taken part in extreme physical challenges to raise money for childhood cancer research and treatment.
BBC executives saw Cain as someone who could appeal to younger male audiences, especially on Instagram and YouTube. In a press release announcing season one of Into the Danger Zone, Ricky Cooper, a BBC commissioning editor, described Cain as someone who “connects with young men in a truly exceptional way.” At an event for the Royal Television Society in 2025, another BBC commissioning editor, Nasfim Haque, said: “Ashley is what BBC Three is about – a new talent giving us a new perspective.”
The BBC first hired Cain to host his own series in 2024, when he filmed the first season of Into the Danger Zone onThe series was filmed in locations across France, South Africa, Brazil, Colombia, Sweden, and the Philippines. It was produced by True North Productions, in partnership with Cain’s own production company, House of Panthera.
The BBC first hired Cain to present “Into the Danger Zone” in 2024. The revelations about Cain’s past are likely to reignite debate over how the BBC handles its high-profile talent.
In April 2025, an external review commissioned by the BBC found evidence that “a minority of people” behaved “unacceptably” within the organization and that their behavior “is not addressed.” This review followed BBC scandals involving on-screen talent like newsreader Huw Edwards and MasterChef host Gregg Wallace. The report recommended clear “standards for everyone who works with or for the BBC,” stressing that BBC staff have a responsibility to “take appropriate action” in response to “sexist” or “abusive” behavior.
If the BBC had done even a basic internet search on Cain’s background, executives would likely have found his long history of offensive social media posts, as well as a 2015 Daily Star report alleging he posted sexually explicit footage of a woman without her consent.
Speaking to the Daily Star at the time, the woman, Rachel Roftis, said she “definitely didn’t give him permission to take photos of me or film me at all” and that she was abused online after Cain uploaded the footage to Snapchat.
When contacted by the Guardian this month, Roftis, now 33 and living in Bexley, southeast London, said she met Cain on March 27, 2015, after he appeared at Pure-bar nightclub in Bexleyheath. She said they had consensual sex at a local hotel. She only found out later that Cain had recorded videos and taken photos of her naked without her consent and uploaded them to Snapchat.
The next morning, Roftis recalled, she received calls and messages from friends and family. One message, sent to her at 11:26 a.m. on March 28, read: “Rachel, I know it’s none of my business, but do you know there are videos of you on Ashley’s Snapchat of you having sex? And videos of your vagina?”
Roftis said that when she learned Cain had shared explicit images of her online, she “screamed” at him and made him delete the images and footage, but by then they had already gone viral. Posts still available on X show users using the hashtag #Room303, apparently referring to Cain’s hotel room number that night, and making other references to the explicit content on his Snapchat.
Roftis said she never consented to Cain taking photos or videos of her during sex, nor to him sharing them online. A close friend she confided in at the time said Roftis had always been clear that “there was no consent” and that the experience “massively affected her relationships with men. She doesn’t trust anybody really now.”
Cain himself made light of the events in posts on March 28, 2015. After deleting the Snapchat posts, he tweeted: “Some of the explicit Snapchats had to be removed ;(.” When a user replied that they were “the most explicit Snapchats I’ve ever seen,” Cain responded, “that’s why they call me the Snapchat king.” Later that day, Cain tweeted “#Room303🔞.”
Roftis recalled receiving online abuse, including death threats. She also faced harassment in person at the bar where she worked. She said: “I went into work the next day and people were coming in, basically shouting abuse at me, throwing things at me.”
The incident boosted Cain’s popularity, and days later he was booked to appear on O’Brien, an ITV daytime talk show.On April 3, 2015, Cain described himself on the show as a “modern-day playboy” who slept with up to “15 girls a week, every week.” He said he “openly” had sex with women on Snapchat, who “know what they are doing with me” and gave their consent. He also claimed his Snapchat videos got up to 60,000 views.
“I believe in respect and respect is mutual,” Cain said. “If you are a lady, I respect you. But if you don’t respect yourself, how can you expect me to respect you?” When a panelist asked how he would feel if a man treated his sister disrespectfully, Cain said he would “like to think” his sister “was brought up in a good enough way not to do” what his sexual partners do.
After the Daily Star story came out later that month, Cain denied that the footage of Roftis was recorded and shared without her permission. In posts that tagged her on Twitter on April 23, 2015, Cain said she “tried to get her 5 mins of fame by selling a story claiming she was unaware” and that “she knew about it…she consented to it…& she fucking loved it!” He also tagged Roftis in a post that read, “if you need the money that bad, send me your acc number and sort code and I’ll fire you over a grand now!”
Roftis told the Guardian that, unlike what Cain claimed, she was not paid by the Daily Star for the interview. Cain’s tweets led to more misogynistic abuse, with users calling her a “slag,” “hoe,” and “attention seeking little slut.” She said the experience was traumatic. “I was made out to be this horrible person, that girl, a slag,” she said.
Roftis added that no one from the BBC had ever contacted her about the incident. When she sees Cain on TV, she said she “can’t physically watch.” She added: “I get angry at any TV thing that I see him on, because I’m just like, really? It makes me angry that everybody, including these TV producers, are either not doing their research, or they just don’t care.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Here is a list of FAQs regarding the reports of BBC presenter Ashley Cain using derogatory language toward women
BeginnerLevel Questions
Q What is this controversy about Ashley Cain
A Reports surfaced that Ashley Cain a former reality TV star and now BBC presenter used abusive language like slags sluts and bitches to refer to women The comments were reportedly made in private messages or social media posts
Q Did Ashley Cain actually call women these names
A Yes screenshots of messages or posts have been shared online showing him using these words He has since issued a public apology stating he is ashamed of his past behavior
Q Is Ashley Cain still working for the BBC
A As of the latest reports the BBC has stated they are looking into the matter There has been no official announcement of his firing but the situation is under review
Q Why is this a big deal
A The words he used are considered highly offensive and misogynistic Because he is a public figure and a BBC presenter many people feel he should be held to a higher standard of respect
Advanced Contextual Questions
Q When did these comments allegedly happen
A The comments appear to be from several years ago before he became a BBC presenter He was known at the time for his appearance on the reality show Ex on the Beach
Q What did Ashley Cain say in his apology
A He said he is not proud of the language he used and that it was a long time ago He claimed he has grown as a person and that the words do not reflect who he is today
Q Could he lose his job at the BBC over this
A It is possible The BBC has strict guidelines on bringing the organization into disrepute If they decide his past behavior damages their reputation or violates their values he could be suspended or dismissed
Q Is this an example of cancel culture
A Some people argue it is pointing out that these comments were made years ago and he has apologized Others argue it is about accountability especially for someone in a publicfacing role who represents a major broadcaster
Practical Common Problems
