Kirstie Allsopp fuming over Dame Penelope Keith tribute: ‘She wasn’t a bottle of ketchup’

Kirstie Allsopp has waded into a social media debate with Bafta over the academy’s choice of wording in its tribute to Dame Penelope Keith.

The Good Life star’s family announced this week that she had died aged 86 after receiving a cancer diagnosis. 

Tributes poured in for the British sitcom star, from the likes of her The Good Life co-star Felicity Kendal, comedian Sue Perkins and former culture secretary Jeremy Hunt.

There was also a statement from Bafta, which said: ‘We’re saddened to learn of the passing of Dame Penelope Keith, aged 86. 

‘A familiar face on stage and screen, Keith won a Bafta for her iconic role in The Good Life in 1997 and another for her work in The Norman Conquests and Saving It For Albie in 1978, with a further three BAFTA nominations during her career.’

However, Location, Location, Location presenter Allsopp took umbrage with the academy’s use of the word ‘passing’, which is a euphemism to describe death, rather than saying the word itself.

The saying dates back to the 14th century, when it was recorded as a description of the soul’s passage from the body. 

But Allsopp was having none of it and replied to the official Bafta account on X, writing: ‘It’s “death”, Dame Penelope died, she was an absolute national treasure, she lived and worked and was brilliant and then she died. 

‘Dame Penelope did not “pass”; she was not a car or a bottle of ketchup.’

The TV presenter was not met with unanimous agreement on her point and waded into her own comments section to respond to those who posited that the word ‘passed’ was a gentler alternative to ‘died’.

Allsopp wrote: ‘Bafta is an organisation not a person, and as Dame Penelope’s family statement said she had died, they should have at least reflected their language.’

The family of the sitcom star said in a statement on Monday: ‘We are deeply saddened to announce that Dame Penelope Keith died peacefully whilst living with cancer at her home in Surrey, where she had lived for more than 50 years.

‘[We’re] grateful for the care and support she received throughout her treatments, and ask that their privacy be respected at this time.’

Allsopp is no stranger to a spot of social media debate, having exchanged words with Michael Rosen in November over his use of a Freedom Pass to travel in London.