Nick Knowles risks landing in hot water with the BBC as he flaunts £2,850 designer watch on Instagram… a year after angering broadcaster over THAT Shreddies advert

• Nick showed off the pricy jewellery in a photograph from his travels to the Grand Canyon, appearing to plug the watch as he tagged the brand in the process 
• However, Nick’s move of direct tagging the company may not go down well with the BBC, who prohibit their stars from promoting brands on social media 
• It comes after he was previously reprimanded by the broadcaster last year for going against their strict advertising rules after starring in a Shreddies advert 
• Last year, the TV star, 59, was dropped from a special edition of his hit BBC show of 23 years DIY SOS after starring in an advert for the cereal brand 

Nick Knowles has risked landing in hot water with the BBC after he plugged a £2,850 designer watch on Instagram.

The presenter, 59, showed off the pricy jewellery as he shared a photograph of his travels to the Grand Canyon, appearing to plug the watch as he tagged the brand in the process.

It comes after he was previously reprimanded by the broadcaster last year for going against their strict advertising rules after starring in a Shreddies advert.  

Uh oh: Nick Knowles has risked landing in hot water with the BBC after he plugged a £2,850 designer watch on Instagram

The photo in question saw Nick’s arm in shot wearing the silver watch by Vertex, with the stunning canyon and Arizona’s skybridge in the background.

However, Nick’s move of direct tagging the company may not go down well with the BBC, who prohibit their stars from promoting brands on social media. 

It comes after Nick spoke out on his breach of BBC commercial guidelines back in May.

Advertising? The presenter, 59, showed off the pricy jewellery as he shared a photograph of his travels to the Grand Canyon, appearing to plug the watch as he tagged the brand in the process

Uh oh: Nick was previously reprimanded by the broadcaster last year for going against their strict advertising rules after starring in a Shreddies advert

Last year, the TV star was dropped from a special edition of his hit BBC show of 23 years DIY SOS after starring in an advert for cereal brand Shreddies, which went against the broadcaster’s advertising rules.

Speaking about the incident, Nick admitted that while he regrets the ‘confusion’ he caused with the ad, he took the job to make money during the pandemic. 

Nick was replaced by comic Rhod Gilbert for the Children In Need special of DIY SOS at the height of the drama but is returning to present a new series of the home makeover programme, which will air on the BBC next week.  

Risk: Nick’s move of direct tagging the company may not go down well with the BBC, who prohibit their stars from promoting brands on social media

Nick played a jobbing builder in the advert – a move said to go against the BBC’s ban on TV talent trading-off their on-screen personas. 

Nick told The Sun of his decision to star in the ad: ‘You know, you’ve gotta earn and there was a period during the pandemic where shows just weren’t being made. That work wasn’t there and I’ve got to provide for my family and an opportunity came up.

‘Obviously what I regret is the confusion that arose around it. I certainly would not have chosen to have upset the BBC or upset the programme in any way.’

Nick added that DIY SOS is ‘more important that just a job for me. I live and breathe it and have done for 23 years. It’s really, really important to me. ‘I’m just glad we were all able to sit down and work a way through it.’

Rules: Speaking about the Shreddies incident, Nick admitted that while he regrets the ‘confusion’ he caused with the ad, he took the job to make money during the pandemic (pictured on DIY SOS)

The BBC star confirmed in May 2021 that he wouldn’t be sacked from DIY SOS over the ad with the corporation making a U-turn on their stance.

Fans of the presenter, who once netted as much as £300,000 in one year from his BBC work, took to social media to defend the star at the time.

Some even branded the BBC as ‘inconsistent’ for coming down on Knowles while allowing Match of the Day host Gary Lineker to continue advertising Walkers crisps. 

During crunch Zoom meeting Nick was told by corporation bosses that he would have to get the ad taken off air or quit the show that helped launched his career.

Issues: Nick played a jobbing builder in the advert – a move said to go against the BBC’s ban on TV talent trading-off their on-screen personas

MailOnline understands that the issue is the similarity between Knowles’ character in the advert and his role as the presenter of DIY SOS – and whether it breaches a rule banning stars from replicating their BBC roles in commercials. 

The broadcaster’s strict rules state that any promotions involving on-screen talent should not ‘imitate, suggest a reference or connection to or ‘pass off’ BBC content’. 

Meanwhile, Nick recently hinted that the future of DIY SOS was uncertain as the show had only been commissioned for one episode – a Children In Need special. 

More to come? Meanwhile, Nick recently hinted that the future of DIY SOS was uncertain as the show had only been commissioned for one episode – a Children In Need special

He tweeted: ‘Sadly, we are only commissioned by BBC One for one build this year for Children In Need, and as yet not commissioned for any builds next year,” he wrote to his fans.

‘We know there is great need and we can help many more people and communities so we are hopeful of getting news soon.’

Fans were quick to share their upset at this and urged the broadcaster to commission more episodes.   

BBC policy that Nick Knowles was suspected of falling foul of 

References to BBC Content in Advertisements

15.3.40: Advertisements or promotions involving talent should not imitate, suggest a reference or connection to or ‘pass off’ BBC content, for example, by replicating any editorial elements of a programme, such as characters, logos, titles, channel names or music or graphics associated with the programme, or by using or directly imitating sets or key venues, catchphrases or format points from the content.

Advertisements should not replicate or ‘pass off’ the role the talent plays in the programme. There should not be use of more than one member of BBC talent from the same programme in any advertisement for a non-BBC-related product. It is unlikely to be acceptable for several members of talent from different BBC programmes to appear in the same advertisement.

The advertisement should not bring the BBC into disrepute. 

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