All That Glitters flooded with complaints after Katherine Ryan’s ‘straight white man’ joke

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The BBC’s brand new competition series All That Glitters: Britain’s Next Jewellery Star hast been hit with complaints after Katherine Ryan made a joke about the confidence displayed by straight white men.

Yep, really.

The new show, which is hosted by the comedian, sees eight jewellers battle it out in a range of challenges to prove they are the next big name in jewellery.

Audiences took offense last Tuesday when Katherine cracked a funny while speaking to Sri Lanka-born jewellery designer Tamara during the broadcast of the first episode.

‘You need to really back yourself,’ she said, as Tamara struggled with one of the challenges. ‘Do you know how confident a straight white man would be right now?’

‘Yeah, I know,’ Tamara responded.

‘Think about Boris Johnson, how pleased he’d be right now,’ Katherine added.

The BBC defended Katherine’s joke after viewers complained, with a spokesperson saying: ‘Many viewers of this programme will be familiar with Katherine Ryan’s well-established style of comedy after multiple appearances on BBC comedy programmes over the years.

‘Comedy is one of the most subjective areas of programming and we can assure you we never set out to offend viewers with anything we show.’

A number of fragile viewers were up in arms over Katherine’s humour and flooded Twitter in anger.

‘Absolutely disgusted you did not edit this racist segment out,’ raged one. ‘Absolutely despair at how we cannot even feel comfortable and respected watching our supposed British Broadcasting Corporation.’

‘Think like a white man? Really? Very inappropriate comment,’ blasted another.

Not everyone on social media took issue with Katherine’s remark, however, with some calling her ‘a babe’ and branding it ‘great advice’.

Next week, the jewelers have to prove their worth with a chain collar that everyone will want, before taking on a commission for a real client, Chris, who wants a sweetheart brooch for his officer wife Kelly to take on her next tour of duty.

All That Glitters airs Tuesdays at 8pm on BBC Two.

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