Big Ron and Tessa in TV wife swap
Black Country Olympic athlete Tessa Sanderson is to star in Celebrity Wife Swap – with race row soccer pundit Ron Atkinson.
Atkinson, the former West Bromwich Albion and Villa manager whose ITV career ended when he made "off air" comments about a black player, will live with the Olympic javelin gold medalist in a bid to prove he is not racist.
His wife Maggie and Tessa's fiance, former judo champion Densign White, will also share a home in the Channel 4 show, which airs next month.
Tessa, who lived in Wednesfield, will have to live by Maggie's rules for the first half of the week before swapping to her own. The four will then meet up to discuss their experiences.
A show source said today the football pundit and former Manchester United manager, who now works for radio station BBC WM, would have to be on "his best behaviour" with Tessa.
Big Ron, aged 70, has been saddled with claims he is a racist since he made remarks about Chelsea star Marcel Desailly on TV in 2004, believing his microphone had been turned off. The remark he made was picked up in Dubai when a sound technician failed to cut the feed after Chelsea's European Cup semi-final defeat to Monaco.
Atkinson said he had made "a stupid mistake", which he regretted, and pointed to his track record of bringing on black players during his career.
Sanderson has also been embroiled in a race row in the past after being branded a "spear chucker" by an ITV commentator. The sports star, who was born in St Elizabeth, Jamaica, became the first British black woman ever to win Olympic gold when she took the top medal in 1984.
