Channel 4 Bake Off embroiled in Ofcom row as complaints flood in over guest’s ‘harmful’ remarks

The Great British Bake Off fans have complained to Ofcom about the spin-off show, An Extra Slice, after a joke was made that many deemed “disappointing”.

Hosted by comedian Jo Brand, An Extra Slice sees famous fans of the show taking a comedic look at the recent episode of the Channel 4 series.

However, 56 complaints were made to Ofcom in relation to the October 10 episode after Ravneet Gill, 33, appeared on the show to give her take on the hopeful bakers.

The panel, which consisted of Brand, Gill, Jonathan Ross and Josh Pugh, discussed their love of bread in honour of Bread Week when Gill detailed how her mother’s medical condition meant she shouldn’t be eating it.

“I love bread, but my mum’s coeliac – so she shouldn’t eat bread, but she still loves it, she still eats it,” she explained.

“Good for her,” Brand, 67, joked as Gill responded: “Yeah, good for her, she’s enjoying herself.”

“And good for whoever cleans up after her,” Ross, 63, chimed as the panel and audience laughed.

The remarks were picked up by charity Coeliac UK though, which took to Instagram with a lengthy message pleading for a more serious attitude to be shown to the illness.

The charity posted: “Coeliac UK calls for respect and understanding in media coverage of coeliac disease following Channel 4 Bake Off: Extra Slice.”

The caption read: “An Extra Slice unfortunately downplayed coeliac disease by implying that a gluten-free diet was a choice rather than a medical necessity.

“We are deeply concerned about the remarks made by the presenters, which undermine the seriousness of coeliac disease. It is crucial for media platforms to engage in informed discussions about this serious autoimmune condition.

“We are actively following up with the producers of The Great British Bake Off: Extra Slice and encourage our community to do the same. You can read our open letter on the next slide, and we will share any responses we receive.

“In the meantime, we ask you to reach out to @channel4 and request an on-air apology for the harmful portrayal of coeliac disease, and for them to engage with Coeliac UK to ensure accurate information is shared in the future. We aim to promote a better understanding of coeliac disease in mainstream media.”

Many viewers also made their thoughts about the interaction clear, with one writing: “And here we go again. I wish it was funny. I wish we could wave away coeliac disease with a laugh and a giggle, but we can’t. It might seem funny to them because it’s so hidden, the hair loss, the baby loss, the loss of being able to join in social events without feeling like the ‘awkward one’ and the loss of agency over your own food when you get glutened. Sometimes funny just falls flat.”

“It’s getting boring now isn’t it, thanks Coeliac U.K. for doing the work for us when we’re tired of all this,” a second penned.

“Boycotted bake off since Pru said that she didn’t believe coeliac was real and that cc was silly. This is beyond disappointing for it to happen a second time,” another argued.

Someone else shared: “We employ somebody who suffers from Coeliac disease. When she told us of her journey and that it took 10 years to be diagnosed and how she suffers even today as an adult, breaks our heart.”

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“Shocked but not surprised that even a close family doesn’t understand the severity of coeliac disease… thank you for standing up for us,” another remarked. (sic)

Following the backlash, Gill promptly issued an apology to viewers on her own social media page, typing on Instagram: “I want to make it really clear that my intention was not in any way to cause any misinformation about the severity of coeliac disease or to downplay it at all. For that, I hold my hands up and that was really never my intention.”

The chef also added that her mother wasn’t offended by the conversation and continued: “For those of you that don’t know me, I thought I’d provide a bit of context to my work and what I do.

“When I was in my 20s, I worked in London’s first gluten-free restaurant, long before platforms like YouTube and Instagram were as big, and I spent a lot of time educating myself.

“I also have spent the last year writing a lot more gluten-free recipes for the community… and that’s because I get asked about them a lot.

“I didn’t intend for those comments to cause harm, and the fact that they did really upset me, and I’m sorry about that.”