‘Good on you!’ Australian TV presenter apologises after congratulating British twin for being white

British twins Maria and Lucy Aylmer appeared on an Australian breakfast television show last month to talk about their unique genetic anomaly.

Maria was bo with black skin and black hair, taking after her half-Jamaican mother, while Lucy was bo with white skin, like her father, and ginger hair.

Here the 18-year-olds are on the show – Sunrise – talking to presenters David Koch and Samantha Armytage.

(Picture: YouTube)

But Samantha Armytage, 37, has been accused of making a ‘racial slur" after congratulating the sister with white skin for taking after her father – saying ‘good on her!".  

She said: ‘The Aylmer twins come from a mixed race family in the UK."

‘Maria has taken after her half-Jamaican mum with dark skin, brown eyes and curly, dark hair, but Lucy got her dad"s fair skin – good on her! – along with straight red hair and blue eyes."

Here"s that awkward moment on video:

The ‘good on her!" comment sparked thousands of complaints online.

A Change.org petition, which was signed by 4,000 people, was also started calling on Armytage to apologise.

Jay Frith, a hip-hop producer in Melboue who organised the petition wrote: ‘The "good on her” comment was inappropriate, extremely offensive and very racist. This comment segregates sisters by favoritism based on skin color and give the impression that Lucy is better or luckier for being fair skinned."

Since the backlash, Maria Aylmer has also responded to the comments.

Here is what she had to say:

Samantha Armytage has since apologised for the remarks.

She said: ‘I would be mortified if anyone thought I would say or think anything racist. It"s not in my nature. To anyone who I might have offended, I"m sorry."

Channel Seven, the channel that broadcasts Sunrise, also responded to the claims, saying she was simply making a joke about herself.

‘Regular members of the Sunrise audience or anyone who has seen the clip in full will know that Sam was taking a dig at herself. She frequently jokes about the fair skin that runs in her family and how difficult it can be to manage in extreme environments.

Michael Pell, Sunrise producer, said: ‘Sam has always admitted that her own fair complexion was a disadvantage in the Australian environment. We apologise if anyone misunderstood or if they were offended."