Strictly Come Dancing Viewers Called Out This “Homophobic” Joke About Judge Rinder

The BBC's autumn institution Strictly Come Dancing is having another stellar year - on Saturday night, it attracted nearly five million more viewers than ITV rival The X Factor. The unlikely appeal of Ed Balls may have a little to do with this. However, some viewers were offended during Saturday night's episode because of an ill-judged joke made by comedian Peter Kay, who was appearing on the show as a special guest. After putting his arm around the waist of celebrity contestant Robert Rinder, Kay made a joke that implied he had been groped by the Judge Rinder star, who has been married to his partner Seth Cummings since 2013. "Hey, steady!" Kay said to Rinder as he backed away from him. "Watch it Milord, watch it Milord! This case is firmly closed!" Watch a clip of the incident below.

After Kay made the joke, some viewers wrote on Twitter that they found it "cheap", "dated" and even "homophobic." Check out a selection of their tweets below.

Other viewers leapt to Kay's defence, pointing out that Rinder didn't appear remotely offended by the comedian's actions. "Oh, for crying out loud! If you find Peter Kay's comments offensive, you've obviously never experienced homophobia," one tweeted. But even if you think some viewers have overreacted, it's definitely sad that one of the UK's leading comedians feels the need to perpetuate a negative stereotype about gay men - namely, that they tend to be sexually predatory - for an easy and pretty old-fashioned laugh.