Gwyneth Paltrow has come under fire after she covered a song by convicted paedophile Gary Glitter during an appearance on the hit US TV show, Glee.

The actress sang Glitter's 1973 hit, 'Do You Wanna Touch Me' on an episode which has already aired in the US and is due to be shown in UK on Channel 4's digital channel E4.

The song's appearance on the programme is likely to boost royalty payments to Glitter, who was jailed in March 2006 for molesting two girls aged eleven and twelve.

Paltrow, the wife of Coldplay's Chris Martin, performs the song as the character Holly Holliday during a scene set in a sex education class, reports The Guardian.

It has already charted in the top-30 of the American iTunes chart.

The children's charity Kidscape deemed the cover “wholly inappropriate”, but it has been defended by Channel 4.

"The scene is editorially justified and we do not seek to censor material in the proper context,” a spokesperson said.

Glee has become a huge source of royalties for artists as its stars cover songs by established names in each episode.

(by Jason Gregory)