Blue Peter viewers were introduced to a new kitten called Cookie – and received a full apology for the deception over the naming of his new friend.

Presenters delivered the second humiliating apology this year for misleading children when the BBC programme returned for a new series.

Last time it fell to Konnie Huq, who said it was a “mistake” for the show to fake the winner of a charity phone-in competition. At teatime yesterday Zoe Salmon appealed for the audience’s understanding over “Socksgate”.

Salmon, 27, introduced viewers to “our brand new kitten, Cookie”. The ninth Blue Petercat was a 13-week-old ragdoll and everyone was “in love with him”.

The former Miss Northern Ireland said viewers may have already heard about some trouble over the naming of Socks, the previous addition to the menagerie. Viewers had been asked to name the cat in an online poll and Cookie had came out on top, she admitted. “But he was called Socks,” she said. “That was wrong and so today we want to say that we are sorry.” Huq added: “And what better way to say we’re sorry than with this cute little thing,” thrusting Cookie towards the camera for approval.

Neither presenter explained why the Blue Peter production team had been so adamantly opposed to naming a kitten Cookie after 40,000 votes had been counted last year. The BBC simply said that producers decided that Socks was a “more suitable name”.

Richard Marson, the Blue Peter editor during the phone-in and Socksgate scandals, was moved from his post and quit the BBC last week. Tim Levell, formerly in charge of Newsround, was named the new editor this week.

Richard Deverell, Controller of BBC Children, said: “Tim is hugely talented and has great integrity and I’ve no doubt Blue Peter’s appetite for challenge and adventure will flourish under his leadership.”

Blue Peter, which celebrates its 50th birthday next October, has been cut from three shows a week to two. The BBC said the move would allow the programme “to concentrate on more compelling and ambitious content”.

Ofcom punished the BBC with a £50,000 fine over the show’s phone-in scandal. More than 14,000 callers paid 10p to enter the charity competition but, after a technical difficulty, a girl from the studio audience was chosen to pose as the winner.

Huq, presenter for nearly a decade, announced that she would be leaving the show next year. She said: “I couldn’t believe it was allowed to happen. It was partly because of the scam I made the decision to leave.”

The BBC has denied reports that all children’s programmes will be moved from BBC One to BBC Two and digital channels to free more airtime.

There was another surprise for viewers when Blue Peterreturned with a revamped version of its famous theme tune.

Producers have made a number of changes to maintain the programme's relevance as its target audience migrates to the web. But the show has been criticised for “dumbing down” its traditional agenda and introducing more celebrities.

Huq attracted criticism from Conservatives when she appeared at a London event to promote cycling alongside Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London. The BBC said she should not have done so because Blue Peter should not be associated with anything political.

In 2005, Salmon prompted an Ofcom investigation when she suggested on air that the Red Hand of Ulster would make a good symbol for an air-line in a logo competition. The BBC said that the symbol was not intended to be provocative or promote sectarianism. Ofcom said that producers should have identified the potential difficulties.

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