Great British Bake Off flooded with Ofcom complaints as guest forced to issue apology

The Great British Bake Off's spin-off show An Extra Slice has received dozens of Ofcom complaints after comments made by chef Ravneet Gill about coeliac disease.

The broadcasting watchdog has confirmed that it received 56 complaints in relation to an episode of the Channel 4 show, which aired on October 10.

During her appearance, Ravneet said: “Well, I love bread but my mum’s coeliac so she shouldn’t eat bread, but she still loves it, she still eats it.”

Host Jo Brand replied: "Good for her," and Ravneet added: "Yeah, good for her. It's just the toilets though." Guest Jonathan Ross then laughed: "And good for whoever cleans up after her."

The remarks were criticised by charity Coeliac UK who said it "trivialises coeliac disease and sends a harmful message to the public".

They also sparked a backlash on social media. One user said: "Absolutely disgusting that @Channel4 allowed this to be shown."

Another fumed: "This makes me so angry, I’m a coeliac and ‘used to’ love bread but now gluten free bread which I just tolerate but it’s essential for my health. People are always belittling coeliac disease saying a little bit won’t do you any harm!!! So annoying."

And a third tweeted: "Laughing out loud at an incurable autoimmune disease. Appalling. Cross-contamination from just one crumb/using contaminated cooking processes can make someone with CD extremely ill. You should be ashamed of yourselves @BritishBakeOff. Educate yourselves please."

Ranveet, 33, promptly issued an apology on her Instagram Story, saying: “I want to make it really clear that my intention was not in any way to cause any misinformation about the severity of coeliac disease or to downplay it at all. For that, I hold my hands up and that was really never my intention.”

The chef also said that her mother was not offended by the comments.

Ranveet added: "For those of you that don’t know me, I thought I’d provide a bit of context to my work and what I do. When I was in my 20s, I worked in London’s first gluten-free restaurant, long before platforms like YouTube and Instagram were as big, and I spent a lot of time educating myself.

“I also have spent the last year writing a lot more gluten-free recipes for the community... and that’s because I get asked about them a lot.

"I didn’t intend for those comments to cause harm, and the fact that they did really upset me, and I’m sorry about that.”

In Coeliac UK's open letter, a spokesperson explained: "Coeliac disease is a serious autoimmune condition where the ingestion of gluten triggers an immune response that damages the gut lining, leading to nutrient malabsorption and a host of potential health complications.

“Even the smallest crumb of gluten can cause severe symptoms, including debilitating pain, prolonged suffering and even recurrent miscarriage, as long-term health risks such as osteoporosis and, in rare cases, small bowel cancer.”

The Great British Bake Off airs on Channel 4, Tuesdays at 8pm. Extra Slice airs Thursdays at 8pm.