He upset fans of the show with a comment about a contestant’s teeth.
And now, it has been reported that Ant & Dec‘s Saturday Night Takeaway has received 104 Ofcom complaints, with 68 of those concerned with Gordon Ramsay’s shocking insult of the woman’s appearance.
The celebrity chef, 54, was making a guest appearance on the variety show and taking part in a game of Read My Lips when he made the nasty comment, leaving furious viewers to write to the broadcasting watchdog.
Formal complaints! It has been reported that Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway has received 104 complaints after Gordon Ramsay, 54, insulted a woman’s teeth
According to The Sun, nine of the 104 complaints made were about a contestant who was unfairly denied a prize, before the show clarified the error and awarded it.
But it was Gordon Ramsey’s failed attempt to lip read a woman saying the prompt ‘garlic bread’ which caused the most uproar.
After a failed attempt, the TV chef – who was wearing noise-cancelling headphones – told the hosts ‘it’s the gap in her teeth I can’t understand what she’s saying!’.
Fans flooded Twitter to slam the Kitchen Nightmares host for his remarks, with some even judging the hosts for not taking action.
Mean: The celebrity chef was making a guest appearance on the variety show and taking part in a game of Read My Lips with a woman when he made the nasty comment
Unimpressed! 68 of the formal Ofcom complaints were concerned with Gordon’s shocking insult of the woman’s appearance
One person wrote: ‘I cant believe #gordonramsay just insulted that ladys teeth live on prime time TV! Am so disgusted I’ve switched it off! Ant & Dec laughing and didn’t say anything!! Well done what a fantastic example you all are!! [sic]’.
While another viewer typed: ‘How can Gordon Ramsay just destroy that poor woman’s front teeth like that?’.
A third said ‘what a d**k move insulting someone’s teeth on live TV. Honestly be a nicer person. Get back down to earth and take out your veneers GR!’
Biting comment: The father-of-five didn’t fare well with the noise-cancelling headphones as the lady tried to say garlic bread
Insulting: After several attempts of guessing the word, Gordon: said ‘it’s the gap in her teeth I can’t understand what she’s saying!’
Social storm: Fans flooded Twitter to slam the Kitchen Nightmares host for his remarks, with some even judging the hosts for not taking action
Still, not everyone was upset. One fan thought everyone was overreacting, writing: ‘People are actually offended by Gordon Ramsay insulting that woman’s teeth HAHAHAHAHAHA’ while another tagged the chef and said: ‘teeth joke was class’ with two laughing emojis.
The potty-mouthed restauranteur also managed to break his promise not to swear on the family-friendly programme, saying ‘p****d’ early in the show.
The slip-up also happened during the Read My Lips game, which saw him wearing noise-cancelling headphones and guessing what contestants were saying.
But the TV star turned the air blue after mistakenly thinking that a player had said ‘p****d’ when they had actually uttered ‘pizza’.
Divided: Others weren’t so offended, with one dismissing fellow fans and another even complimenting the chef for the joke
His slip of the tongue comes minutes after the hosts, both 45, warned him about his language, with the duo joking they had splashed out on a bleep machine to censor out any rude words.
Though the father-of-five was oblivious to the blunder, Ant was quick to say sorry to viewers following Gordon’s slip-up.
He told the camera: ‘We do have to apologise for you language halfway through that – it may have sounded like a swear word.’
And it wasn’t just Ant that noticed as viewers at home were quick to comment on Gordon’s mistake.
‘All that at the start about a beep machine for Gordon Ramsey and he really swears and they miss it’ tweeted one viewer.
Oh dear: Meanwhile Ant and Dec were forced to apologise after Gordon swore live on air, just 11 minutes into the show
While another remarked: ‘Swore already. So much for the bleep machine.’
A third said: ‘Seems like the swear machine they invested in for Gordon wasn’t working quickly enough there.’
‘Did Gordon Ramsey just say ‘p****d’ right after Ant & Dec had done a whole sketch about investing in a bleep machine’ observed a fourth watcher.
‘How did Gordon Ramsey manage to swear, slag off someone’s teeth and tell Rizwan to speak English all within 2 minutes on a harmless family game show’ said a fifth.
With another adding: ‘Gordon Ramsay has no filter does he?’
Reaction: It wasn’t just Ant that noticed as viewers at home were quick to comment on Gordon’s mistake
It comes after last week’s launch show saw an average of 7.3 million viewers tune in, with the duo performing to a virtual audience due to ongoing Covid restrictions.
The figures make the show the second highest rating programme of the year so far, outside of news and sport across any channel, only beaten by ITV’s The Masked Singer.
However, despite the fun-filled show, viewers complained about sound issues, with many complaining of background noise coming from the virtual audience.
And it seemed this week the audio problems may not have been fully fixed as fans still took to Twitter to complain about the sound.
‘The sound engineer needs the sack!’ ranted one person.
As a second viewer complained: ‘C’mon ITV. Two weeks in a row the sound is awful.’
‘eeeek. Awful sound issues tonight!’ tweeted a third watcher.
‘Do my ears deceive me or is there a bit of subtle chatter in the sound of tonight’s #SaturdayNightTakeaway’ questioned a fourth.
With a fifth asking: ‘Anyone else hearing weird echoing or weird sound issues when Ant and Dec are talking?’
Saturday Night Takeaway continues Saturday at 7pm on ITV.
Troubles: It seemed this week the audio problems may not have been fully fixed as fans still took to Twitter to complain about the sound