- Three-time F1 champ calls for outrageous celebrity contestant to be banned
- Alfons Haider was inspiration for Sacha Baron Cohen character Bruno
Formula One legend Niki Lauda has caused a storm in his native Austria after demanding that the man who inspired the comedy character Bruno be prevented from 'gay dancing' on state TV.
Lauda, 61, has denied he is homophobic after saying that openly gay actor and presenter Alfons Haider should be stopped from performing with a heterosexual man on the upcoming series of Dancing Stars.
Lauda made the comments in an interview with a newspaper in Osterreich, in which he appealed to state broadcaster ORF to cancel the show.
Controversy: Lauda has called for Haider, right, to be stopped from dancing with a man on Austria's version of Strictly Come Dancing
On the wrong track: Lauda said Haider 'must be stopped'
'I am completely serious,' he said.
'I am furious that the publicly funded state broadcaster, which is paid for by licence payers, is so desperate to boost viewer numbers that it decides to promote gay dancing.
'There are so many good things in our culture and one of those is that men dance with women.
'At this rate we will soon have to be saying sorry because we are heterosexual.
'What really disturbs me is they are so worried about viewer numbers that they want to destroy valuable traditions from our land.
'I don't want my children to see on the state television that a man is dancing with a man and that they believe that they should do the same.
'I want the general director Alexander Wrabetz, who is also a legally married man, to stop this gay dance number and that the self promoting Alfons Haider should not be allowed on public television to promote his gay show.
'I also want the Board of Directors and politicians to get involved.
Colourful: Haider with the other contestants in Dancing Stars
Openly gay: Alfons Haider, centre, has been attacked by F1 legend Niki Lauda over his plans to dance with another man on Austrian TV
THE REAL BRUNO: WHO IS ALFONS HAIDER?
Sacha Baron Cohen's comedy creation Bruno is an outrageously camp, openly gay, fashionista TV presenter from Austria who wants to be 'the most famous Austrian since Adolf Hitler'.
He is widely said to be modelled on Alfons Haider, but what does the man himself make of the comparison?
'If I'm supposed to be the real person that it's based on then I'm happy, it would be a lot of cash for me!' he told The Telegraph when the film was released in 2009.
'But actually I never understood the comparison to myself at all.
'The only comparisons I can think of is that I'm Austrian, I'm gay, and I work for television, but the rest is completely fiction.'
Haider, 53, considers himself a serious actor and has appeared on stage, with productions including La Cage aux Folles, as well as on TV and film.
He is also a presenter and has previously fronted Dancing Stars, the Austrian version of Dancing With The Stars, on which he once danced Bruce Forsyth.
'It is not part of the ORF's remit to show young men dancing with other men.
'You don't see that in discos or balls so why should you see it on the television.'
Lauda, 61, is a three-time F1 World Champion and a sporting hero in Austria and to millions of motor racing fans around the world.
When asked if he was worried that his comments might be interpreted as homophobic Lauda, who now runs his own airline, replied: 'I have absolutely nothing against homosexuals.
'In fact, quite the contrary. In my airline Fly Niki I even have a few working for me, there is even some who are trainers.
'All I want is that children and teenagers don't get to see the wrong role models in dancing.
'The best thing about dancing is that men dance with women and therefore this viewer chasing game number from Mister Haider needs to be stopped.'
Haider, who has previously been a presenter on Dancing Stars, is set to perform with a heterosexual professional, Balazs Ekke.
Haider says he doesn't want his participation to be overshadowed by an anti-gay row.
'I do not want my appearance on the show to be reduced to homosexuality,' he said.
'This is about the show, about entertainment. I am not the gay Joan of Arc.'
It is not the first instance of a same sex couple dancing together on the various international versions of Dancing with the Stars, as two women set the precedent on the Israeli version of the show last November.
Gili Shem Tov, an openly gay TV sportscaster, was been paired with heterosexual professional female dancer Dorit Milman.
The real thing: Haider was the inspiration behind Sacha Baron Cohen's Bruno