Tarrant: Won a string of awards for the show

The ruling comes just a day after Weakest Link host Anne Robinson was cleared of making racist remarks about the Welsh on a comedy show.

The ITC said that while Tarrant's question was not well expressed, it was justified.

"The ITC believes that, while over the years the name Paddy has been used in a derogatory way in relation to Irish men, the name can be and is still used as a nickname in an affectionate and familiar sense," it said.

"The wording of the question did indicate that the acceptable use of the term was intended, distinguishing if from specifically racist terms which could never be considered nicknames."

Robinson cleared

Who Wants to be a Millionaire? is one of the most popular shows on British TV, regularly drawing more that 10 million viewers.

The Broadcasting Standards Commission (BSC) earlier ruled that Robinson's comments about Welsh people on BBC2's Room 101 were not racist.

She had said: "I've never taken to them. What are they for?"

The comments provoked a record 427 complaints to the BSC.