Tendulkar and Beckham interviews faked by Tory candidate

Natasha Asghar's video included clips of two leading sports figures

A Welsh Conservative election candidate has removed a showreel of her TV work from YouTube where she pretended to interview two senior sportsmen.

Natasha Asghar's video included clips of interviews with cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and footballer David Beckham.

BBC News, which recorded the Sachin Tendulkar interview in 2013, confirmed it did not give permission for its use.

She said the video was intended to practise her editing skills and not for "any wrongful purpose".

Ms Asghar is number two on the South Wales East Tory list for the 6 May Senedd election. She is the daughter of Mohammad Asghar, the Conservative MS for the same region until he died in 2020.

She told BBC Wales the video was not meant to be shown to others.

It includes some of her work as a presenter and had more than 1,000 views before it was made private on her personal channel on Tuesday.

In the clip, Ms Asghar says in a voiceover: "Here are a few examples of my work and I hope that you like what you see."

The video included a clip of Sachin Tendulkar from BBC News

Around a minute in, the video, dated April 2020, cuts to Ms Asghar introducing an interview while superimposed on a background.

"I am joined with the man who has just recently announced his retirement and is giving us an exclusive interview - the one and only Sachin Tendulkar," she said.

"Sachin why are you saying farewell to a game that loves you, and that you clearly love as well?"

The video then shows part of an interview with the Indian international sportsman, filmed by the BBC at the time of his retirement in 2013.

Original footage, also available on YouTube, shows Mr Tendulkar being interviewed by someone else.

The video included a clip of an interview with David Beckham in 2013, pictured here at a separate event earlier this year

Later, the video shows Ms Asghar sat in a chair purporting to interview David Beckham, asking him how he would like to be remembered by his fans.

The showreel then shows a short portion of an interview with the former footballer, with a logo for the news agency Associated Press visible in the corner.

The original footage of the clip, conducted at the time of Mr Beckham's retirement in 2013, is also available on YouTube. The description says he is being interviewed by Gary Neville.

It is understood the interview involved Sky Sports News and other broadcasters.

In response to a BBC Wales request for comment Ms Asghar said: "It's not a secret I work in TV and have a production company where I create content.

"For over a year I have been learning to edit footage. Something I never knew how to do before and I created this demo to demonstrate my editing skills. For years I've been paying others to make my showreel."

She said that can cost "a pretty penny".

"Frankly I didn't even realise that it was visible as I was sharing it with an ex-colleague of mine who was teaching me how to use Final Cut Pro," she added.

"They were never intended for any wrongful purpose or ever intended to be shown to others. As I said it was just for my own development."

The Welsh Conservatives declined to comment.