PETER MARTELL
FORMER US President Bill Clinton lost his temper with David Dimbleby after he repeatedly questioned him about his affair with Monica Lewinsky in a BBC interview to be aired this week.
Clinton loses his legendary cool when the veteran TV interviewer asks him whether his publicly declared contrition is genuine.
It is the first time that the normally calm statesman has been seen to lose his temper publicly over the issue of his sexual liaisons with the White House intern.
Clinton, who agreed to the 50-minute interview with the BBC's Panorama as part of the publicity campaign for his memoirs, My Life, continues to display his anger for several minutes.
He initially responds to Dimbleby's questions by launching a general attack on media intrusion, but when the questions focus on whether Clinton is truly penitent, Clinton blows his top.
One BBC executive who has seen the interview, to be shown on Tuesday but which took place in New York last week, said: "He is visibly angry with Dimbleby's line of questioning, and some of that anger gets directed at Dimbleby himself.
"As outbursts go, it is not just some flash that is over in an instant. It is something substantial and sustained.
"It is memorable television which will give the public a different insight into the former president's character.
"It will leave them wondering whether he is as contrite as he says he is about past events. Dimbleby manages to remain calm and order is eventually restored."
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