Veteran journalist Martin Bashir is “seriously unwell” with coronavirus-related complications, the BBC has said.

The 57-year-old, best known for his 1995 interview with Diana, Princess of Wales, currently works as the BBC News religion editor.

A spokeswoman for the BBC said: “We are sorry to say that Martin is seriously unwell with Covid-19 related complications.

“Everyone at the BBC is wishing him a full recovery.

“We’d ask that his privacy, and that of his family, is respected at this time.”

Bashir began working as a journalist in 1986 but made headlines around the world in 1995 for his BBC interview with Diana, Princess of Wales for Panorama.

That interview has seen renewed interest in the lead up to a new Channel 4 film, which examines the circumstances behind their meeting.

Bashir’s other high-profile interviews have included the suspects in the Stephen Lawrence murder case, entertainer Michael Barrymore, Jeffrey Archer and Major Charles Ingram, dubbed “the coughing major”.

In 2003, he conducted a series of interviews with pop singer Michael Jackson for the controversial ITV documentary Living With Michael Jackson.

He later moved to the US where he co-anchored the current affairs show Nightline on ABC before moving to MSNBC, where he served as a political commentator until 2013.

He subsequently returned to the BBC as the broadcaster’s religion editor.

In October last year he competed in the celebrity spin-off of X Factor.