‘Pantsdown’ Paddy joins Playboy jolly

It was a star-studded, glittering occasion in the heart of London’s glamorous Mayfair last week when Playboy TV relaunched itself as “sexier and sassier” than ever before. In other words, it is going downmarket, having failed to find an audience for its previous glossy US-style approach.

A bevy of the new Playboy beauties were on hand to add a figure-hugging lustre to the scene as senior Playboy executives talked about the British taste in erotica. Acting general manager of Playboy TV Jessica Cox told the sweaty audience about the sexy interactive show Night Calls, where viewers see their faxes “demonstrated by scantily-clad delivery girl Natasha”, and Strip-search, a revue of UK strip clubs.

The British, says Playboy, like their porn firmly rooted in “saucy seaside humour”. So perhaps we shouldn’t have been surprised when Cox turned to the TV to present a selection of Playboy’s finest in action – only to find the screen filled with the constipated grimace of the leader of the Liberal Democrats.

Well, the LibDems did hold their conference in Brighton and Paddy “I-care-so-much-I-shag-the-party-workers” Ashdown has long been a figure of seaside fun for the Diary.