Nihal Arthanayake has told of an encounter he had with a “racist man” outside a pub in Altrincham over the weekend.
The TV and radio DJ – who is best known for presenting the weekday afternoon show on BBC Radio 5 Live since 2016 – took to Twitter and Instagram on Saturday night to share with his over 115,000 followers what happened when he was out with his wife at an undisclosed pub in the Trafford town over the bank holiday weekend.
The 51-year-old explained that he was outside the establishment waiting for his wife, and asked if he could sit with a drunk man to talk and pass the time.
The presenter said the pair were chatting and exchanging anecdotes, before the man went on to ask him if he was a doctor, which Nihal said is “the kind of question as an Asian you might get asked” – but after initially laughing the question off, he queried the man as to “why would you ask that?”.
In response to the question, the man then used a four-letter slur referring to people of Pakistani origin, before acknowledging that he knows he “can’t say that” and subsequently deciding to follow up with the n-word instead.
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Nihal admitted that he was “still trying to process the weirdness” of the encounter, and “didn’t really know what had happened”.
So, last night this happened to me and I am still trying to process the weirdness of it. Warning that there is bad language. pic.twitter.com/yvszsEsnqm
Recounting the incident in the video shared to Twitter, Nihal said: “I don’t really know what just happened. I was in a place called Altrincham… and I was outside this pub, which I’d been in with my wife, dancing around, it was fun, there was a covers band and they were very good.
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“I saw this man sitting outside, and I was waiting for my wife to come out so I said ‘can I come and sit with you, can we talk?’ and he was like ‘yeah, yeah absolutely’.
“He was a little, kind of drunk man [and] we got talking and he said ‘oh are you a doctor?’ So I started laughing because it’s a question as an Asian you might get asked, and I went ‘well why would you ask that?’
“And he said ‘well, because you’re a p***.”
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Nihal then explained that after the man used the initial slur, he went on to apologise and question if the presenter was offended by the term, before referring to himself as a “massive c-word” for using it.
Nihal and his wife Eesha / Credit: Nihal Arthanayake (via Instagram)
“It was so weird,” Nihal continued in his video.
“But you know when you come to some of these areas, I think there’s just some people who still feel they can say that word.”
The presenter stated in a later tweet that he won’t be revealing the name of the pub as he “had a great time in there before encountering that racist man”, and explained that his decision not to do so is due to pubs finding it “hard enough as it is” to stay open post pandemic and amid the rising cost of living crisis without “being stained unfairly”.
He also said that he hadn’t initially intended to report the incident to the police, but his “mate said that I should and now I have”.
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I wont be mentioning the name of the pub because I had a great time in there before encountering that racist man and pubs are finding it hard enough as it is to stay open without being stained unfairly.
He also then confirmed in another follow-up tweet that, after sharing the video to social media and recounting what had happened, he was “impressed” that Greater Manchester Police (GMP) had already been in touch with him.
Nihal said officers are looking investigate the incident as a Racially Aggravated Public Order Offence.
Several media outlets have reported that GMP has been contacted for a comment on the incident, but is yet to respond.
Manchester poet Lemn Sissay, former The Great British Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain, singer Beverley Knight, and TV personality and influencer Vicky Pattinson are just some of the famous names to offer messages of support to Nihal on social media.
What people are wearing at Parklife 2026 – ruffles, cowboy boots, football shirts and bandanas
Clementine Hall
Parklife weekend is here, which means festival fashion is back, and Manchester has absolutely delivered on its outfit trends once again.
Every year in the fields of Heaton Park, thousands of ravers flock to Parklife festival for the biggest party of the year.
And of course, you can’t attend a festival without wearing a fire fit and boy oh boy have we seen some.
Gone are the days when you’d throw on a t shirt and jeans to a festival, and although you may see a few tracksuits and flimsy rain ponchos (we are in Manchester after all), the people of Parklife are dressing to impress this year.
Images: The Manc Group
The main theme of the weekend is…ruffles.
We’re talking ruffled shorts, ruffled boots, ruffled skirts – if you can ruffle it, the Parklife people are buying it. We’d say the vast majority of girls are wearing ruffled hot pants, and we are absolutely here for it.
Another trend is not practical in the slightest but of course looks absolutely fab, and that is cowboy boots.
Images: The Manc Group
We dread to think of the blisters that are going to crop up after the weekend, but as the old saying goes…beauty is well and truly pain.
You may mistake yourself for being at Coachella due to the amount of girls absolutely rocking a bandana this year, a trend which is both stylish and practical with the sun blaring down on Heaton Park this weekend.
And last but not least, maybe it’s the World Cup fever but we’ve spotted both boys and girls sporting football shirts and looking class whilst doing so.
Images: The Manc Group
All in all, Parklife weekend is flooded with fashionistas this year but are we surprised when Manchester is a hive for the coolest cats in the game? We think not.
There’s also a couple of pop-ups onsite this year for if you’re looking to level up your fit, including Suzy Loves Milo selling vintage garms and The Mothership providing all the perfect accessories.
Take That at the Etihad Stadium – the Manchester boys are ‘back for good’ | Review
Clementine Hall
We’re not saying this was the ‘Greatest Day’ of our lives…but it was certainly up there.
Take That have been taking us all on a trip down memory lane over the past few weeks, bringing The Circus Live back to stadiums across the UK and recreating their record-breaking 2009 tour.
Last night they kicked off their four night run at the Etihad Stadium, and it’s safe to say the much-loved pop trio have absolutely still got it.
In fact, I’d go as far to say that this is the best Gary, Mark and Howard have ever looked, sang, and above all else, danced.
Maybe it’s because this is their first hometown gig in two years, or maybe it’s because I’m extremely biased having grown up listening to Take That in my mum’s car on the way to school.
Either way, I said what I said.
Now as the name suggests, The Circus Live isn’t your average show. There’s a gigantic hot air balloon, a huge mechanical elephant, clown face paint, acrobats, unicycles, fireworks, sparkly costumes, you name it – they’ve got it.
It’s an aggressive assault to the senses, a fantastic fever dream, overstimulation of the highest degree, and I lapped up every single moment.
It’s what I imagine taking a tab of acid feels like before a gig, and if that’s the case then I would recommend doing so.
Of course the boys open the show with ‘Greatest Day’, and from the get go Gary Barlow’s vocals are just as smooth as ever.
After a brief Barry Manilow cover they then showcase their exceptional synchronised choreography during the dance break of ‘Pray’, to which I could almost hear the audible gasps from hundreds of mums in the audience.
All of which, I assume, were transported in that moment back to 1993 when Take That debuted the moves on Top of the Pops.
After a brief pause, Mark Owen leads the lads in ‘Shine’ as they make their way to the second stage in the centre of the stadium. Top hat in hand, Gary on the keys, Howard there purely for vibes – it’s no wonder Morrison’s chose this banger for their advert.
From then on it is simply banger after banger, and it’s clear that they feel very grateful to still be filling out stadiums as Howard particularly gets teary eyed after ‘Never Forget’ is met with roars of applause.
Take That have three more shows left at the Etihad Stadium, and you can still grab some last minute tickets here.
However, if you fancy not moving from your sofa but still want to be a part of the fun – Saturday’s show will be livestreamed across the globe via Amazon Music, so no matter where you are in the world, you can still visit The Circus. Find out more here.
Emily Sergeant -
2nd May 2023 
