'Saturday Night Takeaway' hit with complaints over Gordon Ramsay's teeth comment

Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway has been slapped with close to 70 complaints after guest star Gordon Ramsay made a “humiliating” comment about a contestant’s teeth.

The celebrity chef, 54, was a guest on last Saturday’s instalment of the ITV show.

During the Read My Lips game he remarked on the gap in a contestant's teeth, and broadcasting watchdog Ofcom has now confirmed to Yahoo that it has received 68 complaints.

The game saw Ramsay wearing earphones to block out the sound and using his lip-reading skills to work out words that members of the virtual audience said to him.

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He struggled when a contestant named Lorna said the words “garlic bread”, throwing out suggestions like “lasagne” and “chilli con carne” before telling her: “I can’t.

"It’s the gap in the teeth, I can’t understand what you’re saying.”

Many fans of the popular programme were unimpressed, with one writing on Twitter that it was “insulting and humiliating" and several saying the chef’s remark was “rude”.

“Big fan of the show guys, but that’s not on,” said another.

"I was so upset about your tooth gap comment last night," said one person.

"I have a gap caused by anxiety related bruxism and it depresses me every day to the point of despair. I wish I had enough money to have great teeth like you, but I don’t so I have to live with it."

However, there were some who defended Ramsay, insisting that his comment was just a joke.

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Saturday Night Takeaway returned to screens earlier this year, again without a physical audience due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The show continues to air every Saturday evening on ITV.

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