People watching Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway last night became a bit miffed after the presenting duo told a joke that people thought was 'insensitive' to the current coronavirus pandemic.
However, the segment for the show was actually filmed months ago, before this was really even a thing.
That means that either Ant and Dec and their writers are amazingly prescient and were somehow privy to the events of the future well in advance, or it's a complete coincidence.
Anyway, the Geordie duo were filmed for a segment on their popular light entertainment show called Men in Brown, during which various celebrities vowed to 'infect the human scum'.
Obviously, that's a bit of a sore subject right now, given that people are actually being seriously harmed and dying as a result of an infection.
Without getting too far into the plot, Paul Hollywood - yes, the celebrity chef and Bake Off star - was revealed as the head of a malevolent alien race called The Squits, and began to possess the minds of humans until finally halted by Ant and Dec.
Anyway, when infected, the humans would say "infect the human scum'. Which has touched a few nerves with viewers.
Advert
One disgruntled observer wrote: "People are dying by contracting a virus...in case you missed it. The line infect the human scum should have been edited or cut for insensitivity reasons."
Another person said: "Disappointed that #SaturdayNightTakeaway has just said a few times in it 'infect the human scum' if I worked there and if that was me I would of [sic] pulled that from the show in the current pandemic crisis!"
A third offered: "Anybody else think that broadcasting Ant and Dec's new catchphrase 'infect the human scum' is in more than a little bad taste?
"Or should we assume that as part of the Illuminati it is a message to their elite friends?"
Hey, that's an original take. Perhaps there's something to it?
Probably not. As several others pointed out, the spot was probably filmed ages ago, and therefore wasn't meant to be insensitive at all.
Sure, they could have cut it, but they'd only have had to come up with something else, and nobody really wants that, do they?
One supporter said: "People crying about using the phrase 'infect the human scum' need to get a bloody life. It's about aliens for Christ's sake, filmed months ago, and it's lighthearted fun. FFS"
Nobody is saying that it's not lighthearted, but - to be quite honest - it's not that fun, either.
Oh well, it's been a long week for us all.
Featured Image Credit: ITVTopics: TV and Film, UK Entertainment