Gregg Wallace's fake Channel 4 documentary gets hundreds of Ofcom complaints
Gregg Wallace's controversial 'human meat' mockumentary has sparked hundreds of OfCom complaints.
The British Miracle Meat tells a bizarre story of cannibalism as Wallace explores the rising use of 'human meat' in alternative meat production, meeting with people across the UK selling their body parts.
The Channel 4 spoof documentary eventually sees the Masterchef judge sample meat from around the UK with celebrity chef Michel Roux Jr, a scene that has been met with backlash and branded "disgusting" online.
Since airing, the show has sparked more than 400 complaints to OfCom, with The Daily Mail reporting the majority of complainants objected to the theme being the consumption of human meat.
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The dark satire commenting on the cost of living crisis in the UK was met with shock online, with some comparing it to Black Mirror and others drawing parallels with Jonathan Swift's 1729 essay 'A Modest Proposal'.
After the show aired, Wallace took to his Instagram to thank those who tuned in, writing: "Thank you for watching. I really enjoyed my first-ever acting job."
He has since addressed the controversy the show has caused, telling The Telegraph: "It's satire - so I suppose that was the point. Everybody was an actor. I was acting. None of it was real.
"I thought at some point people would fall about laughing but they didn't. People asked how I could put my name to this documentary but I didn't - it wasn't a documentary."
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Writing in The Sun, he said: "Before you start firing off a letter of complaint to Channel 4, I’ll let you in on a little secret. Nothing in the show was as it seemed. In fact, the whole thing was made up."
A Channel 4 spokesman told The Daily Mail: "This 'mockumentary' is a witty yet thought-provoking commentary on the extreme measures many people are being forced to take to stay afloat in our society during the cost-of-living crisis. Channel 4 has a long and rich history of satire and has often used humour as an accessible way to highlight society's most important issues."
Gregg Wallace: The British Miracle Meat is available to stream now on Channel 4 online.
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