It was a gaudy, outrageous and risqué late-night show that gained a cult following when it first aired in the 1990s.

But despite its popularity with a generation of young males, it appears not everyone was a fan of Eurotrash.

In fact, former home secretary Jack Straw was apparently so appalled when he walked in on his son watching the show that he secretly lobbied for it to be axed from the airwaves.

Mr Straw is said to have 'doggedly' pushed Channel 4's then head of nations and regions, Stuart Cosgrove, to get the show removed from the schedule.

The show, which was presented by actor Antoine de Caunes (left) and fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier (right), became a hit with ratings of between two and three million at its height

Mr Cosgrove, speaking on BBC Radio Scotland yesterday (Thursday) about politicians trying to influence the media, said: 'I had a situation with a particular politician who was Jack Straw, the former Labour Minister, when I was at Channel 4.

'He was adamant that he wanted Eurotrash to be taken out of the Channel Four schedule because he had gone home and found his young teenage son laughing at a sketch about Lady Godiva, it was that kind of bizarre, but he was fairly dogged about it.'

Mr Cosgrove, who worked for Channel 4 for more than 20 years, continued: 'Of course we kind of brushed it off or whatever.

'But there is no question that there are politicians that assume they have got the power to kind of influence and push and test at the edges or whatever. And that goes on daily.'

The 30-minute show ran between and 153 episodes were shown in its 16 series on Channel 4

Eurotrash was first shown in the UK in 1993 and covered a range of bizarre topics from mainly Western and Central Europe.

Presented by French actor Antoine de Caunes and French fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier, it became an unexpected hit with ratings of between two and three million at its height.

The 30-minute long magazine-format programme had several regular guests including Lolo Ferrari, a French dancer and pornographic actress who was said to have had 'the largest breasts in the world'.

Swedish model Victoria Silvstedt presented the 'Naked German of the Week' and giraffe puppets made from toilet roll tubes called Pipi and Popo also featured regularly.

Former home secretary Jack Straw (pictured) was apparently so appalled he secretly lobbied for it to be axed from the airwaves

One episode showed Kylie Minogue in Paris shopping for underwear. Eurotrash ran until 2007 and was recently revived for a one-off, hour-long EU Referendum special.

At the height of show's success, meanwhile, Mr Straw was at the centre of the New Labour Government serving in Tony Blair's cabinet.

He was home secretary from 1997 to 2001 before becoming Foreign Secretary from 2001 to 2006.

The former Labour MP for Blackburn later faced tough questions over his role in the Iraq war. The Chilcot report showed he had ordered officials to play up the threat of Iraq in a dossier on weapons of mass destruction.

Mr Straw's son William went on to become the executive director of Britain Stronger in Europe, the group charged with campaigning for the UK to remain in the European Union.

Neither Jack nor William Straw responded to requests for comment.