During the episode of Pearls 1st birthday party this week, Kim made a little joke about kids getting diabetes after eating too much party food.
The scene see her and mother-in-law clash. When Claudette expressed concerns about the amount of junk food on offer, a defiant Kim insisted: "If the kids don't give themselves diabetes, it's not a good party, is it?"
Some viewers expressed their disappointment on social media, with some actually contacting Diabetes UK who confirmed that EastEnders will be speaking to their research team.
An EastEnders spokesperson said: "As regular EastEnders viewers know, Kim has long been established as a facetious character who usually gets more things wrong than right.
"EastEnders has a rich history of covering important issues such as diabetes and has addressed the realities of living with the condition through the character Paul Coker, whose condition will be featured more in the future."
Here are what a few viewers thought
@_shewrites_ @stevie_couch @bbceastenders really NOT cool! I didn't get diabetes from eating too much sugar! Get your facts right Eastenders
— Tamsin Williams (@The_Official_TW) February 23, 2016
Eastenders cracking out the incorrect diabetes jokes... #stereotype
— Georgina Lloyd (@georginaa_97) February 23, 2016
Being a diabetic myself eating too many sweets does not cause you to get diabetes #getitright #EastEnders
— Amy ǂ⃝⃝⃝⃝ (@Amyxloulou) February 23, 2016
What do you think, did EastEnders take it too far?
It's just another thing the character Kim would say, jeez, get a life people
ReplyDeleteIs your child Type 1....No? Mine is...you don't get Type 1 from eating sugar. It's a life threatening disease...how about you get a life!
DeleteHa! Love this...people get so rallied up about a poxy soap! I agree with getting a life peeps ��
DeleteIt's a joke someone would say. Lighten up.
DeletePeople that have Type 1, Diabetes would get annoyed at this, such as myself. So no we are not going to get a life, why don't you with your immature little comments.
ReplyDeleteChill out
DeleteIts that type of ignorance that fuels peoples perception of diabetes, they they including myself have to put up with, its a condition that never leaves us or will get better.
DeleteWell said Daisy. My son was diagnosed at 2 years old. If these people had to literally pin their babies down a minimum of 4 times a day to inject them why they are screaming an begging you to stop, just to keep them alive I'm sure they wouldn't be saying 'chill out' ��
DeleteI have it and know others too as well as mothers with children and think everyone needs to get a grip I find her joke funny everyone knows that there's 2 types I didn't think people were this touchy these days even my mum who had to be in your situation found it funny
DeletePeople with type 1 diabetes like me are diabetic because their pancas has stopped working. Get your facts right BBC especially when you sack DJ s for less.
DeleteI can see what people are saying as they suffer with the condition however I don't think eastenders meant for it to come across in that particular way more ad a light hearted comedy joke ....
ReplyDeleteIt's a silly joke from a known funny character. Not everything said in soaps are real people should know this by now.
ReplyDeleteIt made me chuckle as its something i have said before and my partner is diabetic and i know the facts and truths about the condition. I didnt see any harm in it or didnt jump to my partners defence. I can appreciate why people have felt angered by it but its clear it wasnt meant factual
ReplyDeleteI agree with u people take things literally these days they need to shut up and stop moaning or don't watch the soap simples
Deleteits not real life and "Kim" is just ignorant to the facts
ReplyDeleteMaybe she could make a comment like that in front of Paul and he can let rip with all the things I'd like to say to her as the parent of a child with Type 1 Diabetes - that would be worth watching and be educational!! Since he's a character with T1 diabetes supposedly
ReplyDeleteit came from kim cause she gets things wrong and u silly people get serious about and touchy it's a sofa don't like it don't watch it or shut up and stop moaning
Deletebut you can imagine her saying it, right?
ReplyDeleteI wonder what the response would be if she had come out with a joke about Jimmy Saville?
ReplyDeleteI wonder what the response would be if she had come out with a joke about Jimmy Saville?
ReplyDeletePeople are such moans! Seriously go find something to do with your lives and stop spending so much time complaining about a soap! If someone says that in public are u going to complain to them? Naw! You'll just sit there with a face like fizz! Si either shut up and enjoy the programme or don't watch it all!��
ReplyDeleteI actually hate the public!����
Although it valiantly covers some challenging subjects, Eastenders isn't a documentary! It was in Kim's character to say something like that, cos, y'now, it's a flippin' soap.
ReplyDeleteWhat I don't understand is that they would never make a flippant comment about children with autism, cancer or other medical conditions, because of the insensitivity of doing that! So why is it ok that our children with T1 who have to take a drug every single day to stay alive are fair game?
ReplyDeleteI have diabetes and cystic fibrosis and currently waiting on the lung transplant list but still not as sour as you. If you can't laugh in life what can you do. Just need to lighten the hell up. I'm on oxygen 24/7 aswell as using insulin for my diabetes and my family all call me cripple and we laugh about it. Kim's joke on eastenders was nothing people need to stop trying to be so policitally correct these days and just relax.
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DeleteI, like yourself, am entitled to express my own opinion, however what I chose not to do was make a personal comment against anyone who had a different opinion than mine, unlike yourself! This is maybe because I don't need to lighten the hell up or relax as I am already a person who takes things in her stride & has a positive outlook.
DeleteIl think u find Kim reads from a script so it isn't her fault is it ,she earns a living and what she is given to read she has to read ,so come down on the BBC for even wrighting that ,and yes I feel for the kids that have diabetes and no you can't get it from just having sugar there's many things that trigger diabetes ,,but come on guys get a grip it's just a soap your watching
ReplyDeleteIt may 'just be a soap' but diabetes is NOT a joking matter. Yes I can imagine a character like Kim coming out with a stupid comment but it's the script writers responsibility to make sure the lines are factually correct. The researchers are obviously capable of doing a good job, as has been seen in Staceys storyline so why is it acceptable to make a joke about diabetes?
ReplyDeleteWow.. Personally I don't think eastenders meant that line as a 'fact' or anything.. Just Kim being Kim
ReplyDeleteI understand why yous all might take offence by it. But it probably wasn't meant in a nasty way to hurt anyone.
Its not very nice i must agree. However Kim is daft as a brush. I think maybe its Kims ignorance and not Eastenders to blame.
ReplyDeleteMade me giggle & I suffer with type 1 diabetes lol?
ReplyDeleteMy son was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes when he was 2 years old. When you have to physically pin your baby down at least 4 times a day to inject him, while he is screaming and begging you to stop, just to keep them alive, you soon realise it's not a joking matter. Can you imagine if someone said 'it's not a good holiday unless you come back with skin cancer' People don't joke about cancer because it's not funny, well either is diabetes!
ReplyDeleteI don't see them making jokes about the character in the wheelchair or anything about mental health...it's in the same legal and on the same leave. My son was diagnosed at 16 months, was on high dependancy for 4days, they were looking at veins in his head to insert a drip. I check his bloods daily and eating loads of sugar without insulin could make him really poorly. It's just a delicate matter to those of us who live with that and have that lifestyle.
ReplyDeleteAm I the only one who has type 1 diabetes and finds her joke hilarious �� people need to get a grip we all learn in school and from others that there's 2 types and not everyone brought it on themselves (like me), but it doesn't mean you have to be touchy about it you complain it's life threatening then do as I do stop complaining live your life and get a grip..it's a joke deal with it it's not the end of the world!
ReplyDeleteEastenders...
ReplyDeleteBroadcasts regular storylines about murders and no one bats an eyelid.
One misguided but in-character joke about diabetes and everyone loses their minds...
A great post!! Thanks for sharing. I will be hosting a similar party for my mom on her 40th birthday. She likes vintage so I will be hosting pure vintage party at one of popular historic Chicago venues. I hope everything goes as per plan.
ReplyDelete