Contestant’s Nazi facial tattoos force British broadcaster to suspend woodworking competition

Image by Screenshot/Twitter

By David Ian Klein October 24, 2020

The U.K.’s Sky network suspended its game show, “The Chop: Britain’s Top Woodworker,” pending an investigation, after viewers recognized several Neo-Nazi and white supremacist tattoos on the face of one its contestants in a promotional video.

Darren Lumsden, a wood joiner from Bristol, was set to appear this week on the Great British Baking Show-styled carpentry competition, until viewers pointed out that among his many tattoos were a sig rune, which were used as part of SS’s emblem, and the numbers 14, 88, 23 and 16. All are coded white supremacist symbols, according to the ADL.

The number 88 is a representation of the initials of the Nazi salute “Heil Hitler,” while 23 and 16 spell out the initials of the phrase “white power.” The number 14 stands for the 14 words of the white supremacist slogan “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.” All are commonly used in white supremacist circles.

Sky, which co-owns the History U.K. Channel that airs the show, originally defended Lumsden.

In a now-deleted tweet, they said that the tattoos “hold no political or ideological meaning whatsoever,” and that the number 88 signified the year 1988, the supposed date of his father’s death.

Except Lumsden’s father is still very much alive.

“I’m here aren’t I? I’m alive and kicking” Trevor Lumsden, Darren’s father said, when reporters from the Daily Mail showed up at his home in Bristol. Trevor Lumsden said that he had not seen his son for “some years.”

Since the revelation, Sky deleted the tweets defending Lumsden and removed the promo for the episode featuring him.

“While we investigate the nature, and meaning, of Darren’s tattoos, we have removed the video featuring him from our social media pages, and will not be broadcasting any episodes of The Chop: Britain’s Top Woodworker until we have concluded that investigation,” says a statement on the show’s site.

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly. 

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount