The Gavin and Stacey Christmas special set to air on Christmas Eve has been re-edited to omit an offensive slur from the Christmas hit Fairytale of New York following backlash.
The BBC will show the 2019 festive special of the much-loved comedy sitcom tonight - but the offensive lyric from the Christmas karaoke scene will be cut out, The Mirror reports.
The show stirred up controversy last year when characters Bryn and Nessa – played by Rob Brydon and Ruth Jones - sang the word “f***ot” and amassed a staggering 900 complaints.
The Christmas hit by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl has faced backlash in recent years over the use of the homophobic word in the lyrics.
While many consider the the word to be a homophobic slur, some have argued it is actually an old Irish slang word to describe a lazy person.
A source from Gavin & Stacey confirmed to The Sun that the word has been cut from a re-edit of the Christmas special after production company Falwell 73 made an executive decision to edit it out.
The source said: “Fulwell 73 thought long and hard about this and they hope the change will ensure the special can be enjoyed by all audiences, present and future, without causing any unintended offence.”
Falwell 73 spokesperson told The Sun: “In keeping with the programme’s themes of joy, love and inclusivity, Fulwell 73 have decided to re-edit the song. We are grateful to the BBC for allowing us to make this change.”
While a BBC spokeswoman added: “Attitudes change over time and we appreciate language is a sensitive and important topic for some people. We respect Fulwell’s decision.”
Pogues frontman Shane McGowan has previously explained his decision to write the word “f***ot” in the lyrics saying it was a creative decision to make the ‘character’ played by Kirsty MacColl more authentic.
He told a 2018 interview: “The word was used by the character because it fitted with the way she would speak and with her character.
“She is not supposed to be a nice person, or even a wholesome person. She is a woman of a certain generation at a certain time in history and she is down on her luck and desperate.
“Her dialogue is as accurate as I could make it but she is not intended to offend!”
He added: “If people don’t understand that I was trying to accurately portray the character as authentically as possible, then I am absolutely fine with them bleeping the word, but I don’t want to get into an argument.”
The 2019 Christmas special of Gavin and Stacey was the most-watched scripted show of the decade and pulled in over 17 million viewers.
The Gavin & Stacey 2019 Christmas Special is set to be repeated on BBC One tonight at 8:40pm.
