Alex Best told Susanna Reid and Bill Turnbull that Martin Bashir tried to “plough them [she and George’s agent] with drinks” during George Best interview in 2000.
The wife of the late football star explained that George was “really ill” and in “hospital” when the Panorama interviewer instigated a meeting at a restaurant.
Recalling the moment, Alex claimed that she had to put her foot down when it came to alcohol as “persistent” Martin attempted to provide her and George’s agent with drinks.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain, Alex said: “The documentary, I wasn’t too happy with.”
She claimed Martin had “called and text” her on numerous occasions, before she finally agreed to a meeting.
Alex said: “His persistence, you know when George was in hospital he was constantly badgering me, he was outside the hospital every time I went home, he’d text me, phone me and in the end to get rid of him and agreed to chat for the documentary he wanted.
(Image: ITV)
“He said: ‘We’ll meet in the restaurant after hospital’ with Phil George’s agent and he literally just tried to ply us with drinks.”
“I mean were having to say ‘no, no, no, no’.
“And then, after his documentary he wrote a really horrible column in the Guardian, ‘what help George got when his wife and agent were killing him.'”
The former model also believed that Martin was using “Princess Diana’s name” in a bid to land interviews.
She told Susanna and Bill: “He was very persistent, we were going through a really terrible time as George was really ill.
“I had a letter through the door from Martin Bashir, saying that he would love to do an interview with George and it was all very complimentary and he also said about Princess Diana.
“He used it as a hook to real you in.”
Alex explained that the interview had been “bugging” her for 21-years and she now felt confident enough to speak up given the findings into the Panorama interview with Princess Diana in 1995.
According to a new investigation, the BBC “fell short of the high standards of integrity and transparency which are its hallmark.”
At the time, an internal investigation had been conducted in 1996 by former director-general Lord Tony Hall.
The findings from the director of BBC news and current affairs review were described as “woefully ineffective” in Lord Dyson’s report into the Panorama interview.
It is claimed that Martin had commissioned fake bank statements and used “deceitful behaviour” in a “serious breach” to land the bombshell interview with the Princess of Wales.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
