The Gavin & Stacey Christmas special raked in 11.6 million viewers last night – making it the most watched show on Christmas Day since 2008.
When it aired at 8.30pm on BBC One on Wednesday night, half (49.2%) of all TV viewers in the UK tuned in, with a peak of 12.3million.
Although fans were left begging for a fourth season of the show after watching the Christmas special, many viewers were left disappointed by one particular scene.
During the episode, Nessa and Uncle Bryn sang the word “f*****” as they belted out a rendition of The Pogues’ Fairytale of New York.
Viewers took to Twitter to slam the BBC for not bleeping the word out, as it’s offensive to the LGBT community.
I love Gavin and Stacey, but including the “f*ggot” line in the Fairytale of New York singalong is careless and a real missed opportunity. Imagine if Nessa had simply said “Oh! Bryn! To be honest, at the end of the day like, I feels uncomfortable using that word in 2019.”
— Little Saint Nick Levine ☃️ (@mrnicklevine) December 25, 2019
Christ I’m so lucky to have my fam – watched #GavinandStacey with them and when I mentioned about the f*ggot backlash, they were in total agreement with me, with my straight little brother leading the charge on why it’s so unnecessary ????♥️
— hbd miranda x (@jackremmington) December 25, 2019
fairytale of new york was released in 1987, the gavin & stacey christmas special was broadcast in 2019. scripts are drafted & redrafted – ‘faggot’ making it into a highly anticipated television episode on christmas day was a conscious decision & there IS an issue with that
— Harry Hardwick (@hazhardwick) December 26, 2019
I guarantee if Fairytale in New York said n***a instead of f****t, it would be an entirely different story.
Please stop using your privilege to defend homophobic slurs. I don’t give a fuck if you love Gavin & Stacey, it’s not acceptable in ANY form. Period.#GavinandStacey pic.twitter.com/wNE8UbiSUk
— Yvy DeLuca (@yvyworld) December 26, 2019
Was 100% here for Gavin & Stacey until the used the f slur in Fairytale of New York. Is there any need? That is really not on.
— Ebony L Newton (@EbonyLNewton) December 25, 2019
In response, the broadcaster argued that the song is popular during the festive season.
A spokesperson said: “Fairytale of New York is a very popular, much-loved Christmas song played widely throughout the festive season, and the lyrics are well-established with the audience.”