The controversial stand-up comedian Jim Davidson has been thrown out of the reality TV series Hell's Kitchen after he made homophobic comments against one of the other contestants, Big Brother winner Brian Dowling.

According to an ITV spokesman he referred to gay people as "shirt-lifters" whilst filming an episode of Hell's Kitchen last night. When Dowling protested, Davidson retorted, "Go on. Play the homophobic card – you are a fucking disgrace."

Later, Davidson said that "Gay" stood for "Good As You", to which Dowling responded "I am Brian – not Good As You. I am an equal to you. You are being really, really horrible to me now." Eventually, Dowling broke down in tears and protested "I won't walk away. I won't be as Good As You. I will be BAY - Better Than You."

Davidson said in a statement the show's atmosphere "did make me play up to the worst of my perceived image", and went on to state that he was not homophobic.

This is not the first time the show has occurred problems due to offensive language. In an edition of the show last week, host Marco Pierre White used the word "Pikey", which resulted in 29 complaints according to Ofcom.

Viewers can tune in to ITV1 tonight at 9pm to watch Davidson's departure from the show.