The British Airways stewardess behind a racist Snapchat rant against Nigerian passengers demanding 'f***ing upgrades' is an aspiring actress who hunted for male company on the Plenty of Fish dating website, MailOnline can reveal.

Joanne Wickenden, being investigated by the airline, described herself as a 'Princess' who likes a laugh as she boasted about her job as a flight attendant on the site.

The 23-year-old, a member of mixed fleet cabin crew, sparked outrage after recording the racist clip in her BA uniform before flying from London Heathrow to Abuja on Friday night.

Ms Wickenden, who is believed to have been suspended, refused to comment about the video at the home she shares with her mother and father in Fareham, Hampshire.

But a close friend defended the flight attendant and told MailOnline the film was recorded by a BA colleague, saying: 'She's not racist, it was a joke between two friends. It wasn't meant to be racist. She is not saying she dislikes Nigerians and she's not saying that anyone is better than anyone else.'



The friend continued: 'The other colleague just wanted her to impersonate what goes on on the flight. Albeit it was an inappropriate comment to make. She's very upset because now the whole world knows her face and thinks she's a racist.

'It's like someone had a vendetta [by releasing the video] instead of filing the complaint in a normal way.

'Everything is still up in the air at the moment because of the investigation'.

But a former school friend added: 'I was disgusted, it's so embarrassing. She was renowned for making inappropriate jokes at school.'

The 5ft 11in air hostess says she has been single for two years as she boasted about her job on Plenty of Fish.

'I'm a flight attendant living in Crawley. I've been single for 2 years now and miss a bit of male company,' she wrote.

'I'm outgoing, like to have a laugh and enjoy socialising. I'm the sort of person where the little things mean the most. Trust is a must! If you would like to find out more then pop me a message xx'

A source told MailOnline that the video - which was captioned 'I can't cope with this flight' - was circulated among 'horrified' BA cabin crew who are 'very concerned'.

Another shocked staff member said BA should apologise to its Nigerian passengers.

The airline launched an investigation into the controversial footage.

In a statement the company said: 'We expect the utmost professionalism from our staff when they are representing British Airways. We are investigating this video.'



An airline source told MailOnline: 'My friend was horrified. BA has a culture of dealing with things like this internally, she passed it to me because she was concerned that nothing was done.'

source: http://m.af1234.com/Af1234/details/im-not-racist-it-was-a-joke-british-airways-stewardess

lalasticlala mynd44 is her apology accepted?

Why she no defend herself na u wan be samuel peter for her head now abi... Anyways, which kind name be wickenden

Be careful who you allow access to your personal stuff especially things that can be used against you.

She's been single for two years? No wonder she couldnt stop talking of bbc's and swinging bananas.

Suspension fall on her.

A Very pathetic b*tch.
She could've meet up with a 9ja guy for a BBC n got served easily,than showing her frustrations

lol

Yeligray:
Why she no defend herself na u wan be samuel peter for her head now abi... Anyways, which kind name be wickenden