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A man who claimed a gay donkey tried to rape his horse is standing to be Ukip leader.

John Rees-Evans, who also took a gun into IKEA, was forced to confront the bizarre claim as he declared his run for the top job.

The ex-soldier insisted his 2014 quip was "playful banter with a mischievous activist" and the IKEA incident was "embellished".

He admitted: "The fact is I'm not a politician."

Mr Rees-Evans, who came third behind Labour and the Tories in the last general election with 6,423 votes, is the eight Ukipper to throw their hat in the ring.

But his plan to declare his vision for Ukip on national TV today was rudely interrupted by BBC Daily Politics host Jo Coburn.

She pointed out the 2014 incident in which he was asked by an activist about whether "some homosexuals prefer sex with animals".

He replied at the time: "I've witnessed that! Do you want to hear about it? Okay.

"My horse is standing there, right, and this donkey came up which is male and, I'm afraid, tried to rape my horse.

"My horse bit the side of the neck of the donkey and I had to give my horse a slap to protect the donkey."

(Image: BBC)

He admitted the "homosexual donkey" wasn't an example of gay bestiality but it was a "bizarre coincidence".

Confronted today, Mr Rees-Evans attacked the BBC for distracting from his vision for Ukip.

"It's really interesting what you're doing," he said.

"I'm trying to tell you my serious vision for UKIP and you're trying to trivialise it."

(Image: Getty)

(Image: Getty)

He added: "I concede it was a mistake to be playful with an activist in the street.

"The fact is I'm not a politician. The guy was just asking me questions in the street.

"It was an error of judgement. I was very early coming into politics and I'm sorry if I offended anyone by doing that but can we please move on?"

A profile on the South African-raised dad-of-three last year told how he persuaded IKEA staff to let him carry his gun "in case terrorists laid siege to the building."

(Image: WENN)

He insisted the incident was an "embellishment for an audience that appreciates exaggerated journalism".

Asked if he walked into IKEA carrying a gun, he said: "Yes.

"In fact I did because it simply wasn't safe to hand it over to the security and there were things I had to get."

The mountain-climbing enthusiast in his late 30s, who left the Army in 2000 and now lives in South Wales, said Ukippers were "freedom fighters without an enemy".

"I won't deny the fact there is infighting," he said.

"They've just won the last battle. I can tell you in my own personal experience, when fighters don't have a common enemy they turn against each other.

"Ukip is a party of fighters, what I'm proposing to do is direct all that aggression towards the enemy."