Two BBC hosts were left sweating after comedian Harry Enfield made a ‘controversial’ Peter Mandelson joke.
The 64-year-old made an appearance on The One Show on Tuesday night to promote his upcoming tour alongside MasterChef: The Professionals judges Marcus Wareing, Monica Galetti and Matt Tebbutt.
But as Alex Jones and Roman Kemp hosted the show, the atmosphere turned sour when Enfield was asked out of all his characters which one was his ‘personal favourite’.
Responding to Jones, the comedy legend said ‘I like doing Nicey, the DJs’ in reference to his ‘Smashie and Nicey’ sketch with Paul Whitehouse, which portrayed an old-school DJ whose tastes were stuck in the 1970s.
However, moments later Enfield added: ‘The Peter Mandelson of pop, I call him. He keeps on coming back at you.’
Reacting to his joke, Jones could be heard saying ‘oh gosh, we’ll leave that there’ before giving details about his upcoming tour.
Meanwhile, some awkward laughter from his fellow guests filled the studio.
Responding to the moment on social media, many fans found the joke ‘hilarious’.
Writing on X, Jono said: ‘I think The One Show were quite pleased they ran out of time with Harry Enfield there.’
Archie claimed that Enfield ‘knew exactly what he was doing’ as he pulled a face to camera when Jones said ‘we’ll leave that there’.
David also argued that it was the ‘best bit of telly so far this year’, as Paul laughed: ‘You can only imagine the producers screaming down the earpiece!’
The joke comes after Mandelson stepped down from the House of Lords after the full extent of his relationship with the convicted sex offender emerged from files.
Previously in The One Show, Kemp tried to cut off Enfield again from telling an anecdote about an old girlfriend’s father, which inspired one of his notorious characters ‘Mr Don’t’.
Interrupting his story, Kemp questioned: ‘Where is this going Harry? It’s a tea time show,’ which also drew some criticism from fans.
Enfield’s appearance on The One Show is certainly not the only controversy the comedian has faced in recent times, after he defended his portrayal of cultural icon Nelson Mandela as a crack dealer last year.
The 64-year-old wore black make-up and dressed as the late South African leader in 2007 as part of his Harry & Paul sketch show, which was condemned for racism.
During an appearance on The Third Act podcast, Enfield argued that the outrage over his sketch reflected imported sensitivities from America compared to typical British attitudes.
The One Show is available to watch on BBC One.
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