The BBC has apologised for broadcasting a Radio 5 Live satirical panel debate about "curing" Clare Balding of being a lesbian.

Nineteen listeners complained to the corporation over Saturday's live edition of the BBC Radio 5 Live show, Fighting Talk, which also asked contestants to discuss whether Balding should present racing shows topless.

In a round where guests are invited to "Defend the Indefensible", comedian Bob Mills debated the proposition that: "Give me 20 minutes with her and I'm pretty sure I could turn around Clare Balding."

Balding, the face of last summer's London Olympics and Paralympics coverage, has been in a civil partnership with the former BBC Radio 4 newsreader Alice Arnold for seven years. She won widespread acclaim for her role in the Games and has gone on to front Channel 4 Racing and a number of BBC TV and radio shows. Balding will also host a weekly show on one of the BT Sport channels due to launch later this summer.

Mills responded to the challenge by describing Balding as a "horse woman" who "appreciates power between her thighs", before adding: "And we all know, there is no woman that can't be cured."

His remarks were greeted with jeers from the live audience at the Liverpool Echo Arena. Another segment of the programme asked guests to discuss whether Balding should "present the Derby topless".

Colin Murray, a regular Radio 5 Live presenter and former Match of the Day 2 host, attempted to defuse the row on Twitter by saying the "Defend the Indefensible" item was intended to make a "mockery of idiot views, as that certainly is".

Responding to an offended listener, Murray tweeted: "We try 2 b closer to the line than most shows and there is always a risk with that. We are 100% live so balancing act." He added in a later tweet: "But playing everything safe is also death of show."

The BBC initially responded to the controversy by pointing out that the exchange aired in a segment of the show during which panellists comment on topics which "by their very nature, are blatantly indefensible".

But on Monday the corporation admitted the broadcast was "inappropriate," and said in statement: "Fighting Talk is a live programme and on this occasion we got it wrong. The 'Defend the Indefensible' item was inappropriate and as such we have removed this short section of the programme from iPlayer. We would again like to apologise to anyone who was offended by the programme."

Balding had not commented publicly on the row by Monday evening. The exchange prompted 19 listeners to complain to the BBC, although none had contacted the media regulator Ofcom by Monday afternoon.

It is not the first time Balding, one of the most in-demand UK broadcasters since her Olympic success last summer, has been the subject of off-colour remarks in the media.

Last year she reopened a feud with the Sunday Times television critic AA Gill, who described her as "a dyke on a bike" in his column in 2010. Balding described Gill as a "great twat" and claimed he hates clever women as she spoke in defence of Mary Beard, the on-screen historian who Gill suggested was too ugly for cameras.

In May, Balding won a special Bafta award for the year's most important personal contribution on screen in factual television and earlier won the RTS presenter of the year award.

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• This article was amended on 7 June 2013. The original said incorrectly that a version of the programme was broadcast at 11pm on Saturday and referred to "the 9pm watershed", which does not apply to radio.