FIONA Bruce has disappeared from BBC News for an entire month in a major hosting shake-up.
Fiona, 58, has not been seen presenting the 6pm flagship show for a month, raising questions whether she has stepped back from her role since facing criticism for her comments on domestic abuse.
The Question Time presenter was accused of trivialising the issue following a statement about Boris Johnson's father Stanley which she said triggered a "social media storm" that "mischaracterised" her words.
Despite her role in typically presenting BBC News at 6, she has been covered by relief presenters since the incident.
The veteran BBC presenter was engulfed in a row over Boris Johnson's dad Stanley, who was branded a "wife beater" on the show.
And she was forced to stand down from her role with domestic abuse charity Refuge.
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BBC figures revealed that 854 complaints were made about the "context Fiona Bruce gave" during a discussing concerning domestic violence.
A row erupted after Stanley Johnson was branded a "wife beater" on the show.
Journalist and panel member Yasmin Alibhai-Brown said his alleged history of violence was "on the record".
But Fiona interrupted, telling the audience on Thursday: "I’m not disputing what you’re saying, but just so everyone knows what this is referring to Stanley Johnson’s wife spoke to a journalist, Tom Bower.
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"She said Stanley Johnson had broken her nose and she had ended up in hospital as a result.
“Stanley Johnson has not commented publicly on that. Friends of his have said it did happen, it was a one off.”
Fiona later announced that she had stepped down from her role as an ambassador for Refuge.
She said: "It is with real sadness that I have decided to step back from my role as an ambassador for the domestic abuse charity Refuge.
"Last week on Question Time, I was required to legally contextualise a question about Stanley Johnson.
"Those words have been taken as an expression of my own opinions which they are absolutely not, and as a minimising of domestic abuse, which I would never do.
"I know survivors of domestic abuse have been distressed by what I was required to say on-air.
"For that, I am deeply sorry. I cannot change what I was required to say, but I can apologise for the very real impact that I can see it has had."
Refuge thanked Fiona for her "considerable contribution" but acknowledged that while the words she used were not her own, they had "minimised the seriousness of domestic abuse".
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The charity said: "Refuge's position was, and remains, clear – domestic abuse is never a 'one-off', it is a pattern of behaviour that can manifest in a number of ways, including but not limited to physical abuse.
"Survivors of domestic abuse are, and will always be, Refuge's priority."
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