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Great British Bake Off 2014: Diana Beard's daughter claims BBC 'exploited' pensioner

Diana's daughter said she had been 'sacrificed to the altar of ratings'

Daisy Wyatt
Monday 01 September 2014 11:38 BST
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Diana Beard, nicknamed by the press as 'Dirty Diana'
Diana Beard, nicknamed by the press as 'Dirty Diana'

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Great British Bake Off contestant Diana Beard’s daughter has criticised the BBC for its portrayal of her mother.

Beard's daughter claimed the show was deliberately edited to imply that Diana had removed rival Iain Watters’ Baked Alaska from the freezer, which led to his disqualification after throwing the dessert in the bin.

Sarah, Diana’s daughter, said her mother has been “done up like a Christmas turkey” by the show.

“She has been sacrificed on the altar of ratings. To exploit an old lady is shameful,” she told The Sunday Mirror.

The ‘bingate’ incident sparked wide online abuse and criticism of the 69-year-old, who was nicknamed 'Dirty Diana'.

Last year’s finalist Ruby Tandoh defended the pensioner, tweeting: “Shame on the online lynch mobs and on the show’s editors for letting her Bake Off dreams end in a witch-hunt.”

The Baked Alaska incident has since received over 800 complaints to the BBC and Ofcom.

But the BBC has failed to apologise to Diana, who has since left the show due to ill health after losing her sense of smell and taste.

A spokesman said: “She hasn’t asked for or needed one. We don’t feel that she’s been misrepresented.”

Iain and Diana said they have been in touch since the incident was filmed earlier this summer, and remain on good terms.

The two contestants will be reunited in the series finale in October.

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