Lawless: Sex censors ruined US 'Wives'

Actress Lucy Lawless has blamed the failure of the US version of Footballers' Wives on censorship of sex scenes.

The Xena: Warrior Princess star appeared in the American remake, but revealed that she and her co-stars were not allowed to film steamy scenes, like those seen in the British version.

Only one episode of the US show was aired Stateside before poor ratings forced it to be axed.

But Lawless has insisted that the show could have been good if TV bosses had kept the controversial footage in.

She said: "If you're going to take all the bad behaviour out of it then you don't have a show.

"You can't keep up the pretence that footballers are well-scrubbed boys. A good number of them are great guys, I'm sure wonderful husbands and fathers who don't take drugs or sleep around - but that doesn't make good TV."