Countdown
(Picture: Channel 4)A contestant on Countdown was shocked after Channel 4 aired his seven-letter gay slur.
After the show aired the word “p*****r”, Matt Gould, from Whitley Bay, said he was surprised it was included in the show’s edit. He told The Mirror: “I apologise for my part in this. I thought it might be edited differently.
“At the time I said ‘I have an inappropriate 7 that I know is in the dictionary or a riskier 7 that I’m less sure about’.
“I thought that bit would be reshot with a non offensive 7 letter word.”
Pointless host Richard Osman also said he was surprised the offensive word wasn’t cut from Monday’s show.
He said: “The contestant was embarrassed to be saying it, but in that situation the easy solution is to all agree he scored 7 points and to retake with a different answer. We’ve done that a couple of times with ‘correct’ answers.”
He added: “A very easy fix, and not an uncommon one.”
Yes, I think, the contestant was embarrassed to be saying it, but in that situation the easy solution is to all agree he scored 7 points and to retake with a different answer. We've done that a couple of times with 'correct' answers.
— Richard Osman (@richardosman) August 16, 2021
Journalist Scott Bryan said: “As someone who was called a “p*****r” by homophobes on a daily basis why on earth is Countdown allowing it to be said cheerfully as an answer on daytime television?Yes, I know it is in the dictionary.
“But having been at the receiving end of that word as abuse for years (along with f*****), then hearing it casually as an answer on a quizshow.”
He added: “The amount of people saying ‘it is only a word,’ I’m pretty sure it was only a word back in the classrooms back then too. Yet it feels the same.”
Sorry to go serious on something quite trivial - but as someone who was called a "p***fter" by homophobes on a daily basis why on earth is Countdown allowing it to be said cheerfully as an answer on daytime television? pic.twitter.com/5jCf0wY8oM
— Scott Bryan (@scottygb) August 16, 2021
And writer and former NHS Doctor Adam Kay said:
I don't think it's trivial. If the best word someone could come up with is a word in the dictionary that would have the channel taken off the air, I'm sure they'd replay the round. Not sure this should be treated as any different.
— Adam Kay (@amateuradam) August 16, 2021
I'm a writer, and words are important to me. There's something about having a word shouted at you by way of abuse that makes one sensitive to it. It's in the dictionary - the question is whether it should be broadcast on teatime telly. I suspect we won't find common ground here.
— Adam Kay (@amateuradam) August 17, 2021
Channel 4 has now apologised. They toldThe Mirror, : “The airing of the word was an error of judgement. It does not align with our values and we apologise for any offence caused.”
