The assertion first appeared on posters for his 1982 show W*nk Outsider and has remained a fixture of every billboard and video since, including 1996’s Jacques Twat – Live in Calais and 2008’s Strictly Come Sh*gging.

Ron has been a regular fixture in theatres for thirty years now; he is loved by thousands for his casual racism and sexism as well as his catchphrases: ‘F*ckee b*llocks!’, ‘W*nky panky!’ and ‘Not with my donkey you don’t!’ – the latter remains a staple of his pantomime work.  However the comedian has never once appeared on TV – an absence that he has long worn as a badge of honour.

‘My audience don’t want any of that middle class PC shite that Auntie Beeb does. I’m not politically correct, I’m politically incorrect, me! … Did you see what I did there?’

Commentators believe that the BBC are taking Ronaldson to court to deflect recent criticism that their comedy output is ‘stiflingly middle class’. The charge follows the recent departure of Glaswegian comedian Freddie McNasty to Channel 4, and the failure of the new James Corden comedy vehicle ‘Who Ate All the Pies?’, described by critics as ‘a bit like East Enders, only not so funny.’

The corporation has promised to act on the criticisms, appointing an ‘Edginess Tsar’ and sending all comedy scriptwriters to a compulsory seminar entitled ‘Acceptable offensiveness for the C2,D,E demographic’ led by comedian Marcus Brigstocke.

But a survey for the healthcare provider has now revealed that many obese people are not actually that funny. Researchers found many obese people refused to use a proper punch line when telling jokes and almost one in five did not appreciate the importance of timing when telling a joke. The survey of over 2,000 individuals, some of whom were very, very fat indeed, also revealed many obese people fail to recognise that they have a humour problem at all.

Professor McKay, an expert on obesity comedy said: ‘The increasing profile of larger celebrities, for example James Corden, Eamonn Holmes, Ruth Jones and Beth Ditto, means that fat people increasingly think that they are funny as well, even if they are just slightly overweight and actually quite boring.’

Although he does not think large celebrities have been in any sense responsible for perpetuating the stereotype that exists today, he says the increased numbers of fat people who think they are funny is alarming.

‘If fat people continue to turn a blind eye to their complete inability to tell a joke, they will see their life expectancy considerably shortened,’ he warned. ‘Probably by someone sitting in the audience.’ he added.