Barrie Drewitt-Barlow, a multimillionaire who has been described as one of Britain’s first gay fathers, told BBC presenter Stacey Dooley that he paid a catwalk model £50,000 to act as an egg donor because he did not want what he called "ugly" children.

Speaking on an episode of Stacey Dooley Sleeps Over, Drewitt-Barlow said he chose the donor after seeing her on a Miami runway and that appearance was the primary factor in his decision. He told Dooley, "When I saw her on the catwalk, I looked at Scott, and I went, 'oh f***, she is stunning.' I tell you, her legs were six feet in the air." He added, "I'm absolutely honest about it, why the hell not?"

Drewitt-Barlow, 54, who splits his time between homes in Chelmsford, Essex, and Florida, said he had paid the model £50,000 for the eggs and that he had eight children via surrogacy. He said he and his partner, Scott, had discussed the donor's looks before proceeding. Dooley, 38, responded during the episode that that reasoning would "infuriate some people." Drewitt-Barlow said he did not care what others thought.

The remarks follow a long public history for Drewitt-Barlow, who has been open about using surrogates and donors to build his family. In the programme he described searching for donors and surrogates and said his agency held profiles of potential candidates, including models. He told Dooley, "We've got hundreds of those models on our books right now."

The broadcast adds to ongoing public discussion about preference in donor selection and the ethics of choosing gamete donors on the basis of physical appearance. Advocates, medical professionals and ethicists have previously debated the social and ethical implications of selecting donors for traits such as looks, intelligence or athleticism, and such choices have prompted questions about equity, commodification and informed consent in fertility services.

Dooley's interview placed the comments in the context of Drewitt-Barlow's family life and long-standing involvement with surrogacy. He described raising children through multiple arrangements and defended his frankness about why he selected a particular donor. He said: "Nobody wants an ugly kid. Sometimes we get them, but we don't always want them, and we deal with it and carry on."

The episode did not include responses from fertility clinics or professional bodies. The laws and regulations governing payment to egg donors and surrogacy differ by jurisdiction; in the United Kingdom, for example, payments to donors are generally limited to expenses and compensation rather than commercial fees, while other countries have different rules. The programme focused on Drewitt-Barlow's personal account rather than legal or medical advice.

Drewitt-Barlow's remarks are likely to rekindle debate about donor selection and the social responsibilities of intended parents, as well as the role of media in airing personal decisions about reproduction. The episode brings visibility to a set of private family choices that intersect with broader ethical and regulatory questions about assisted reproduction.