TV presenter, who is gay, said football fans shouted homophobic abuse at him
Former Great British Bake Off presenter Matt Lucas has recounted two recent incidents in which football fans shouted homophobic abuse at him.
The 50-year-old comedian and passionate Arsenal fan shared two instances of the verbal abuse he’s faced on the way to matches this season.
“I have been verbally abused twice on the way to football matches so far this season,” Lucas wrote on X on Wednesday (December 4).
“On both occasions I was minding my own business, head down, walking to the ground. I was called ‘a f***ing queer c***’ by one man and another told me that ‘our club doesn’t want disgusting gay fans’. If you’re a player and that offends you less than wearing a rainbow-coloured armband for a couple of matches, then maybe you’re part of the problem.”
In the comments section, Lucas, who is gay, responded to one person who suggested that perhaps the remarks were just meant to “wind” him up.
They wrote: “I’m not denying it happened.. but I’ve been going to Arsenal for 40 years and never heard anything remotely homophobic.. the stadium has a big banner saying ‘Gay Gooners’ and nobody seems to mind. You sure it wasn’t away fans winding you up? And are you sure rainbows will fix it?”
Lucas responded simply: “Good for you.”
Matt Lucas recounts the ‘verbal abuse’ he’s faced from football fans
Matt Lucas recounts the ‘verbal abuse’ he’s faced from football fans (X/RealMattLucas)
Lucas, who stepped down from his co-hosting duties on the hit Channel 4 baking competition in December 2022, just completed hosting two seasons of Sky Max’s Fantasy Football League revival.
Lucas first joined The Great British Bake Off in 2020 alongside existing host Noel Fielding. He’s since been replaced by Alison Hammond.
Matt Lucas is an avid Arsenal FC fan
Matt Lucas is an avid Arsenal FC fan (Getty Images)
Speaking about his exit last year, Lucas referred to Bake Off as a “pandemic job,” admitting he had “never seen the show” before he was approached to star on it.
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“I’d never seen the show beforehand and I was not a baker,” he said on a 2023 episode of Deeney Talks podcast. “They were just looking for a new host and it came at a time where I had been living in L.A. for seven years and I had just sold my house there and I was thinking about coming back and spending more time with my family and friends.”
Of Fantasy Football League, he said: “It probably utilizes what I have better than Bake Off.
“I just don’t have the time and not doing Bake Off means I have time to do some writing with David and record my music as well as Fantasy Football League.”
Lucas is currently promoting the soundtrack for his 2023 musical children’s novel, The Boy Who Slept Through Christmas.