Viewers unimpressed with Jeremy Clarkson’s Sean Lock joke on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? viewers were left unimpressed last night after Jeremy Clarkson made a joke about the late comedian Sean Lock.

On an episode of the show featuring celebrity contestants playing for charity, which was shown on TV yesterday, Clarkson made the joke while explaining the rules of the ITV show to contestant Jimmy Carr.

He said: “You’ve got four life lines, 50/50, you’ve got two phone a friends because you’ve got no audience because of Covid...”

Carr interjected and joked: “Oh I thought that was because people preferred Tarrant” (he was referring to the previous host, Chris Tarrant).

As the crew gasped, the comedian asked: “What?!”

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Clarkson replied: “That was because they were promised Sean Lock!”

Comedian Lock sadly died in August of lung cancer. It is not clear whether the episode was filmed before or after his death and indy100 has contacted ITV to find out.

Either way, some people on social media found it pretty tasteless, while others said that, if the joke had been made before Lock’s death, that it should have been edited out:

Though others said Lock - who was known for his dark sense of humour - would have found it funny.

It is not the first time Clarkson has ruffled feathers in recent weeks. Recently, he sparked a backlash after he penned column in the Sunday Times criticising Greta Thunberg and declaring she needs a “smacked bottom”.