Floella Benjamin claims she once turned down sex with David Bowie

Floella Benjamin has claimed she once turned down a night of passion with David Bowie, despite his best attempts to seduce her.

Benjamin, one of Britain’s first Black children’s TV presenters and today a serving member of the House of Lords, described in her new autobiography an encounter with the legendary musician in the Seventies.

“Would you like to come upstairs with me?” Benjamin claimed Bowie asked her at a party. “I want to offer you the world. You can have anything you desire.”

She added: “I’ve joked ever since about the night I turned down David Bowie!”

Benjamin’s new book, What Are You Doing Here?, describes the night in question, which saw her attending a bash with other stars including Marc Bolan and Mick Jagger.

“When David Bowie walked into the room, slim and charismatic, all eyes were drawn to him,” she recalled. “He came straight over to me and bowed. ‘May I have this dance?’ he said.” She added that she has “never forgotten the way he moved”.