A BBC Radio One DJ has been forced to apologise after Take That members used "gay" as a slur on air.

Howard Donald and Jason Orange both made the blunder while being interviewed live, along with Gary Barlow and Mark Owen, by Jo Whiley.

She asked the group, who release a comeback album next week, what they did in their spare time. "I go skiing in my spare time," replied Orange. "Snowboarding is a bit gay isn't it?"

Donald then pitched in: "No way, I think skiing is gay. They wear salopettes, those all-in-one suits are definitely gay."

Whiley made an apology for the statements to listeners once the interview was over. "If there was anything that you may have found offensive I do apologise," she explained. I don't think the guys meant it to be offensive, they were just joking around."

DJ Chris Moyles was criticised earlier this year for using "gay" as a negative term to describe a mobile phone ringtone.