TV baking judge forced to apologize for 'thoughtless' joke about 'diabetes on a plate'

Public outrage forced Paul Hollywood, a judge on the United Kingdom's "The Great British Bake Off," to issue an apology over a remark he made about the sugar content of one of the show's dishes.

What are the details?

Some viewers of "The Great British Bake Off" were clearly not amused when Hollywood quipped that one of the contestant's dessert presentations looked like "diabetes on a plate."

Hollywood's co-judge, Prue Leith, chuckled at the remark and responded, "This is worth every single calorie, Paul."

Paul Hollywood makes controversial diabetes comment on Bake Offwww.youtube.com

Throngs of the show's fans complained about Hollywood's remarks, with many insisting that the longtime chef and television presenter educate himself on Type I and Type II diabetes.

One Twitter user wrote, "I'm not normally one to feel offended by diabetes jokes, I see them as a way to educate people. But this is what #diabetesonaplate looks like, not the patisserie you see on #GBBO. We need to start focusing on how we talk about this condition because #languagematters."

Another added, "This is what #type1diabetes looks like for my daughter @PaulHollywood - you can't fit it all on a plate. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition not caused by eating sugar. She was diagnosed at 9 #paulhollywood#gbbf@Channel4#diabetesonaplate."

Yet another commenter shared a plateful of diabetes medications and treatment, and captioned it, "I like to call this bake 'diabetes on a plate'. I've been tucking into it since I was 7 years old. #diabetesisnotyourpunchline @Channel4 @PaulHollywood @DiabetesUK @jdrf #gbdoc."

So what did Hollywood say about all this?

Hollywood addressed the criticism on Instagram and apologized.

"A sweet treat, Chelsea buns ... a remark re:- diabetes I made on tonight's show was thoughtless and I meant no harm, as both my grandad and my own mother suffer/ suffered from diabetes ... apologies."