Ofcom has received 181 complaints about The Great British Bake-Off, after comedian Matt Lucas performed an impression of Boris Johnson on the opening episode of the series.
The regulator says the majority of complaints made about the episode refer to Matt Lucas’ impersonation of the prime minister, which saw him wear a blonde wig and stand behind a podium which read ‘stay alert, protect cake, save loaves’.
The programme aired just minutes after Johnson addressed the nation on new Coronavirus restrictions, delaying the bake-off by a few minutes.
Matt Lucas parodies Boris Johnson in Great British Bake Off
Seven million people tuned in to the episode, a million more than last year’s launch and over three million more viewers than the prime minister’s speech on Channel 4.
During his speech Lucas told viewers they could “bake in a tent if they want to, but don’t bake in a tent”, poking fun at the government’s many u-turns.
Many on social media praised the sketch however.
Twitter user, Mark Fretters said: “Matt Lucas as Boris doing a better Boris than Boris did three minutes earlier.”
Another, Rihannon Varnon added: “Bet C4 could not believe their luck of the timing of this, honestly the most British thing ever, face with tears of joy.”
While some were uncomfortable with mixing politics with cake and joking about public health messages.
One user, Shelley Smith said: “Totally unnecessary opener to GBBO, keep politics out of cake please.”
Another, Stephen Taylor added: “GBBO massively undermining government comms immediately after the announcement.”
Others were unsure on the impression, with Twitter user Benjamin Lines saying: “I can’t decide if that intro to Great British Bake-Off was poorly timed or pure comic genius. It was hard to tell where Boris ended and Matt Lucas began though. What a surreal age and season we live in.”
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