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Sir Bradley Wiggins in hot water after crude remarks at children’s charity auction

Sir Bradley Wiggins, the 2012 Tour de France champion and Olympic time trial gold medallist, is apologizing after making a crude sex joke at the Firecracker Ball, a charity dinner for victims of child abuse.

The dinner was an auction to raise money for the Barnardo’s children’s charity, an organization devoted to helping abused children.

Wiggins, who was the BBC’s 2012 sports personality of the year, had donated an autographed shirt to the auction and was approached by an auctioneer with a microphone. Wiggins said to the auctioneer, into the microphone, “You’ve got a posh voice. I like posh voices. S*** me off.”

His joke fell flat and those at the event were reportedly shocked and disgusted by the comment.

“Bradley’s remarks were at very best completely misjudged,” Malcolm Cowing, a retired PR manager, told the Daily Mail. “On a stag do maybe, but not at a dinner for victims of childhood sexual abuse.”

A spokesman for the knighted Olympian noted that he was caught off guard by the auctioneer and was not ready to answer the question. He claimed Wiggins was in the midst of banter with others seated at his table.

Even after the remarks were made, the shirt still sold for a price of £5,000.

This year was the 25th anniversary of the Firecracker Ball. Seats were sold for £300 each and it raised £230,000 for the Barnardo’s, despite Wiggins’ remarks.

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