Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? viewers have criticised the long-running game show after airing a joke about the late comedian Sean Lock.

Lock died of cancer in August, at the age of 58.

Jimmy Carr, who frequently appeared alongside Lock on shows such as the comedy panel series 8 Out of 10 Cats, featured on the celebrity edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? on ITV last night (17 November).

When running through the lifelines, host Jeremy Clarkson explained: “You got two Phone a Friends because there’s no audience, because of Covid.”

“Oh, I thought that was just because people preferred [previous host Chris Tarrant],” Carr replied, prompting an audible reaction from the filming crew.

“That’s ’cause they were promised Sean Lock,” Clarkson retorted.

The remark was criticised on social media by viewers. Many were quick to point that the episode was likely filmed before Lock’s death, but suggested ITV should have edited out the joke for reasons of sensitivity.

“Jeremy Clarkson mentioning Sean Lock should have been edited out,” wrote one viewer.

“Celebrity Who Wants to be a Millionaire including Clarkson making a joke about Sean Lock is absolutely careless. Can’t believe they aired that,” wrote someone else.

“Was that really a Sean Lock gag on #WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire ? Bit too soon,” wrote one person, while someone else described the comment as “crass as f***”.

The Independent has contacted ITV for comment and clarification on when the episode was filmed.