Ingerson passed off the image, which appeared some 11 weeks ago and received 47 "likes", as a light-hearted tribute to "bestie" Belinda Morters' work on the jungle-themed I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here! She has since publicly apologised for it.

The picture, which has since been removed, left Ahmed Yussuf, who has worked as an intern alongside Ingerson, disgusted and hurt.

"No harm intended. Just wanted to give our hard-working friend a giggle," said Ingerson, who has presented motorsports programs on Fox and 7Mate, in her original post.

Ingerson defended the picture on Twitter with the hashtag "notracistatall".

But then in the face of mounting criticism, she apologised and offered to remove the picture.

Yussuf, who is studying journalism at LaTrobe University, said he struggled for a while with whether or not to make his point but in the end he couldn't stay quiet.

"It's very difficult to say something about someone who could possibly be a contact in the future but I thought someone should say something," he said. "It was there for weeks and no one said anything.

"I read the comments between her friends and herself and it seemed very off-putting – having blackface on in an Africa-themed costume party as if being black is something to be put on and taken off.

"She said 'I hope this washes off'. I can't wash the black off my skin. You feel like you are some prop to be put on and a costume and then later on you are derided for being black."

Yussuf said he had corresponded with Ingerson.

"I explained to her why blackface is so bad and why it is so offensive and hurtful and she seemed receptive to what I said and she asked to meet up to have a chat.

"We live in a world that preferences whiteness and white features. She's not the problem, she's the symptom of something much bigger.

"The thing you have to ask is why I as a person of colour have to talk to someone else and teach them about humanity?"

V.hurt to c @BrionyIngerson do #blackface. Feel disgusted & disappointed esp having worked w/ her. #Racism is not ok. pic.twitter.com/F20YnDxws4— Ahmed Yussuf (@ahmedyussuf10) April 19, 2015

@kristiandwyer @osama_hag @ahmedyussuf10 sorry if you're upset by this. No harm intended, it was an African costume party. #notracistatall— Briony Ingerson (@BrionyIngerson) April 19, 2015

@ahmedyussuf10 @kristiandwyer @osama_hag of course you're not. I will remove it out of respect for you. Apologies for any hurt caused— Briony Ingerson (@BrionyIngerson) April 19, 2015

In a statement, Ingerson apologised for her error of judgment.

"I'm deeply upset that my Instagram post offended people in the community," she said. "That was not my intent; it was a very poor error in judgement and I now understand how inappropriate it was.

"The post has been removed and I offer my sincere apologies to those that were hurt by it."

This is not the first time blackface make-up has sparked outrage in the Australian media. In 2009 a group of amateur performers "blacked up" in an infamous segment on Channel Nine's Hey Hey It's Saturday, prompting fierce criticism from guest judge Harry Connick Jr.