Ricky Gervais defends Christopher Biggins after he’s removed from the Celebrity Big Brother house

Ricky Gervais has defended Christopher Biggins after he was removed from the Celebrity Big Brother house.

The British comedian stepped in to say that the entire house would be empty by now if everyone was removed for making ‘offensive’ remarks.

Gervais’s comments come after Biggins was told to leave the house on Friday after making a joke about Nazi extermination camps in front of Jewish star Katie Waissel.

He wrote on Twitter: “If people are removed for saying things that viewers could find offensive, surely the Big Brother house should be empty now.”

After Biggins replied to thank him, the comedian added: “Imagine what they'd have done if you had exposed yourself, spat in someone's drink, or vandalised the place :)”

Gervais seemed to despair of the contestants left in the house while watching Sunday night’s episode, writing:

“So I'm watching Big Brother. Let's not get bogged down with the obvious "what happened to celebrity?", let's ask, WTF happened to humanity?”

Biggins has issued an apology after he was forced to quit the Channel 5 programme on Friday, insisting that he had never meant to cause offense.

He told The Sun: “I am mortified by what’s happened, really mortified. Most of my friends, in fact, are Jewish. I apologised to Big Brother and Katie.

“I love Jewish people. Listen, my best friend is Lesley Joseph. You can’t get much more Jewish than that.”

The panto star also made controversial comments about bisexuals, referring to Aids as a "bisexual disease".