Amanda Holden is under fire for a comment she made about Paul O’Grady following his sudden death earlier this week.
The Britain’s Got Talent judge was remembering the TV star during her Heart Breakfast Show with co-host Jamie Theakston on Wednesday when she said what she “loved” about the late star was that he was “not woke in any way”.
“You know what I loved about him, he was not woke in any way,” Amanda began, before Jamie chimed in and agreed: “Nope, that’s for sure.”
She continued: “He had massive opinions on everything, which I love people like that. Really, really funny. Very witty, bitingly sharp. Everything that came out of his mouth was brilliant, and I absolutely adored him.”
“He’s one of those people who it feels like he was always around,” Jamie added.
Amanda finished by saying: “You knew he was in the room, you absolutely knew he was in the room and I just, oh my god, we’re just all going to miss him so, so much.”
Many listeners took issue with Amanda’s choice of words, highlighting the fact that the gay star was a trailblazing queer activist, trans rights supporter and arguably, as Lily Savage, the very first drag queen to breakthrough on to mainstream TV.
HuffPost UK has contacted Amanda’s reps for comment.
After the news broke of Paul’s unexpected death at his home on Tuesday evening, Amanda was one of the first stars to pay tribute on social media.
Sharing a photo of her with Paul, she wrote: “Woken up to this sad, sad news.
“I loved Paul. He was brilliantly opinionated, searingly sharp and very funny.
“I loved our conversations... I can’t quite believe it. Thoughts with Andre and their family.”
Amanda isn’t the only public figure to come under fire in the wake of Paul’s death.
Dominic Raab was left embarrassed after getting the star’s name wrong in the House of Commons.
The deputy prime minister was attempting to pay tribute to the late comedian when he called him “Paul Grayson”.
Raab eventually corrected himself after after several MPs pointed out his error.