BBC bans red lipstick as kids' TV presenters told not to look 'too sexy'

Melissa Hardinge, executive editor of CBBC Independents, revealed she keeps a close eye on presenters' appearances.

She claims to have once forced stars of the channel's Friday Download programme to remove some of their make-up.

“Obviously sexualisation of girls is something we take incredibly seriously," she told a panel at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

"We try to show fantastic female role models.

"I go on to the floor of Friday Download and make them take their red lipstick off, the presenters.”

Current hosts of Friday Download include singer-songwriter Dionne Bromfield and actress Shannon Flynn.