Anyone who has watched the Jeremy Kyle Show will know it’s hardly known for being a bastion of the Queen’s English.
But for all the colourful arguments many viewers expect (and in many cases tune in for), some will have been taken aback when one of the programme’s guests uttered a word which probably ought not to be aired on daytime TV.
For those wanting further detail, it was the C word. Before 10:00 in the morning.
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The ITV programme was investigated for letting it slip through the net, but it seems they had a perfectly reasonable explanation. Or at least that’s what regulator Ofcom have ruled.
In their report, Ofcom agreed with ITV’s explanation that the word was “not clearly audible,” with the broadcaster putting this down to the speaker’s thick Scottish accent and “the casual rather than emphatic manner in which the comment was made”.
Due to ITV ensuring the programme wasn’t re-shown after they got wind of the offending word, Ofcom deemed the matter resolved, though their report does include the following section:
“Rule 1.14 states that the most offensive language must not be broadcast on television before the watershed. Ofcom’s research on offensive language1 notes that the word “c***” is considered by audiences to be among the most offensive language.”
Quite right.
