First we get apologies from Richard & Judy, and now, Saturday Kitchen looks to follow suit after being accused of a Richard and Judy-style phone line con.

Apparently, viewers of Saturday Kitchen were invited to call in and speak to guests live on air… although the programme had been pre-recorded one week earlier. Error.

The host of the BBC1 show, James Martin reminded fans that they could talk to guests including chef Paul Merrett a total of five times during the show.

At the end of the previous week’s episode, viewers had been told that they could call to win a place on "next week’s show", which was filmed just minutes later.

Saturday Kitchen is made by Cactus TV – the same company responsible for Channel 4′s Richard and Judy show, which has come under fire for cheating viewers with its ‘You Say, We Pay’ quiz.

A BBC spokesman admitted that the show had been pre-recorded and money was made from phone lines, but insisted that there was no deliberate con.

He explained: "Mistakes were made by James Martin in his presentation. These mistakes were not part of the script – they were simple cock-ups." [Mof Gimmers]