Uk media watchdog Ofcom has ruled that comedian David Walliams was right to brand one Mastermind contestant as 'astoundingly thick'.
Castleford man Simon Curtis scored one of the show’s lowest scores in the history of the programme, but took offencce when Walliams mocked him on national TV.
Curtis was nicknamed 'Disastermind' in his home town after his appearance on the BBC1 show in 2006.
He scored just one point on his chosen subject – the Hollywood actor Jim Carrey.
The 47-year-old, who has previously won £250,000 on Who wants To Be A Millionaire, claimed he was treated unfairly in an January episode of David Walliams’ Awfully Good.
Walliams said: "Sometimes in life, you have to know your limitations… if you’re not, let’s say, very bright, it’s probably not a good idea to go on a quiz show that tests your mental agility.
"And by not very bright I mean, astoundingly thick."
Probation worker Curtis complained to Ofcom that he was portrayed as being of ‘low intelligence’ and that he had not given his consent for it to be shown.
In its defence, Channel 4 said that it was obvious by Curtis being on Mastermind in the first place that he was not actually ‘astoundingly thick’.
But it also pointed out that Curtis's performance was the worst specialist subject performance ever seen on Mastermind.
Ofcom agreed and refused to uphold any of Mr Curtis’s complaints. It ruled: "We recognise that these comments carried the potential to be offensive and insulting to Mr Curtis.
"However we took the view that it would have been clear to viewers from the beginning of the programme that Mr Walliams – himself best known as a comedian – intended to provide humourous and light hearted opinion and comment on examples of past television clips."
