Emmerdale hit by Ofcom complaints over coronavirus joke

\'Emmerdale\' has been hit with a number of Ofcom complaints over Jimmy King\'s coronavirus joke.

The ITV soap could be investigated by Ofcom after some viewers were offended by a quip made by Nick Miles\' character about the impact of the ongoing pandemic.

During last Wednesday\'s (17.06.20) episode, he told Nicola King (Nicola Wheeler): "At least we don\'t have to do the school run. Thank you coronavirus."

According to The Sun Online, Ofcom received 12 complaints related to the line.

However, the media regulator hasn\'t decided if it will investigate the show over the backlash.

Actor Nick recently admitted he thought he was getting the sack when a producer called him about the current lockdown episodes.

The 57-year-old star admitted he always fears the worst when he gets a call from one of the soap\'s bosses, but he was "thrilled" to be part of the special episodes set during the current coronavirus pandemic.

He said: "It was a bit of a shock. I got a call from one of our producers, but I always panic when I get a call from a producer.

"I thought it might have been a phone call to fire me, but it was actually about the lockdown episode!

"I was absolutely thrilled to be asked as there are only six episodes."

The biggest challenge for Nick and his co-star Nicola has seen them having to observe social distancing guidelines.

He explained: "The problem for us with this episode is that although Jimmy and Nicola are locked down together, they wouldn\'t be social distancing by themselves, but Nicola Wheeler and I obviously aren\'t locked down so we have to obey social distancing when we shoot it."