Ron Atkinson: 'I don't care if people think I'm racist'

Former football manager and pundit Ron Atkinson has claimed that he has no concerns if people think that he is racist.

The 74-year-old has been amid racial controversies in the past, but during his time on Celebrity Big Brother, Atkinson caused a fresh storm by making an anti-Muslim joke.

Atkinson asked fellow contestant Danielle Marr, "you're not carrying a bomb with you, are you?" when she turned her jumper into a headscarf.

"I am what I am," Atkinson told the Daily Star. "Whether or not people think I'm racist has never been an issue that bothers me. I know people might think that's strange.

"I don't feel I have to justify myself in that respect and I didn't go on the show for that reason. People that know me know I haven't got a problem."

Atkinson was evicted from the Big Brother house on Saturday.