'Millionaire' viewers slam show over Jeremy Clarkson's 'crass' Sean Lock joke
Watch: Jeremy Clarkson jokes about late comedian Sean Lock on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
Viewers have hit out at Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? for airing a joke about Sean Lock so soon after his death.
The comedian – who died in August aged 58 after a battle with cancer - was brought up by host Jeremy Clarkson as Jimmy Carr took the hot seat on the celebrity edition of the ITV show.
Clarkson and Carr had been teasing each other, with 8 Out Of 10 Cats star Carr joking that people preferred the show’s old host Chris Tarrant.
Read more: Jimmy Carr 'sick with grief' after death of 8 Out Of 10 Cats co-star Sean Lock
And at one point, Clarkson quipped that the audience weren’t clapping for Carr as they had been “promised Sean Lock”.
Many viewers thought the comment was inappropriate.
One said on Twitter that it was in “bad taste”, adding: “Absolutely shameful Sean Lock joke!”
Another said it was “very poorly timed”, while one tweeted that it was “crass”.
“Was that really a Sean Lock gag on #WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire? Bit too soon,” said another.
Others pointed out that the programme was probably filmed before Lock’s death.
However, fans thought in that case it should have been edited out.
One said: “If filmed before Sean Lock's passing then it was a playful wisecrack at Jimmy's expense and the blame lies with ITV for not editing it out. Obviously, if filmed after his death it's incredibly bad taste."
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Another posted: “Was it filmed before or after he passed away? Maybe Sean would find it funny because of his sense of humour but seems a bit insensitive to say Sean Lock should have been there instead, when he's dead.”
Yahoo has contacted ITV for comment.