Matt Lucas is probably best known for Little Britain but most recently, he has turned his hand to presenting The Great British Bake Off.
Lucas joined the programme on Channel 4 alongside Noel Fielding when Sandi Toksvig exited the show in 2020.
Tonight (October 19), he has found himself in hot water with some viewers who have accused him of “casual racism.”
During a link in tonight’s episode of the baking show, Matt exaggerated a German accent and some fans were not impressed.
Hosts Matt and Noel usually provide the bakers in the tent and viewers alike with giggles but tonight, some people took to Twitter to complain.
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One viewer found the whole sketch awkward, tweeting: “Finding #GBBO a little awkward. I get annoyed when people put on a Yorkshire accent as a joke, I imagine that's how Jürgen is feeling with @noelfielding11 and @RealMattLucas. The hosting just seems a bit off the mark this season."
Other fans were also concerned for the feelings of Jurgen, a contestant who was born and raised in Germany.
A tweeter wrote: “@RealMattLucas I hope you feel embarrassed about your awful, very racist, ignorant and hurtful German accent on @BritishBakeOff tonight, Jurgen look so hurt, you made a lovely man feel small.”
The feeling was shared by many others, with one tweet saying: “Uhm ?? I'm watching Bake Off and I find it so offensive that Matt Lucas is mocking Jürgen's accent ? Not funny at all.”
This comes during the show’s first ever German themed week.
Others found the exchange “blown out of proportion” with one viewer writing: “Seems Matt Lucas is the source of Twitters panty twist today. I’m sure whatever it is he has or hasn’t done, has been blown wildly out of proportion, but eh, this is what happens on here.”
Similarly, some fans thought he redeemed himself by rescuing another contestant’s cake.
One said: “The country's opinion of Matt Lucas has been restored by him rescuing Guiseppe's cake tower.”
With another fan agreeing: “Matt Lucas has redeemed his entire self by catching that cake!”
What do you think? Let us know in the comments.
Bake Off is on every Tuesday at 8pm on Channel 4.
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