The Great British Bake Off's stars have waded into "Bingate", which saw contestant Iain Watters booted off the show after he went into meltdown over a bad bake and tossed it in the bin.

Iain lost his cool and threw away his Baked Alaska after its ice cream filling failed to set and stormed out of the tent, leaving him with nothing to show to judges Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood.

Fans of the show tweeted their sympathy and outrage at Iain being voted off, with many rounding on fellow contestant Diana Beard, who had removed his effort from the freezer during the Baked Alaska challenge, but presenter Sue Perkins stood up for her.

Sue tweeted: "Iain's Alaska was out of the freezer for 40 secs. That's it. No sabotage. 40 secs of normal temp would NOT be enough to reduce it to liquid."

She continued: "I can't actually believe I'm wading into this... (And wading is the operative word...) Big love to @iain_watters anyhow. What a gent x

"All getting a little inflamed for my liking. Am off. This is a show about CAKES. Please, let's save the ire for real stuff. Peace & out x"

Paul added: "At the end of the day Mary & I need something to judge, it's not about melted ice cream but about what's presented to US... #bingate

"I'm glad Mary's not on twitter this would upset her.. #enoughnow"

But Iain himself was gracious in defeat, tweeting: "THANK YOU @BritishBakeOff it's been truly EPIC. What can I say guys - I had a #MELTDOWN. Thanks for the support. #BINCIDENT #GBBO".

During desserts week, the show's bakers had to make a self-saucing pudding, a tiramisu cake and then the tricky Baked Alaska - incorporating sponge and ice cream filling inside a merengue. Searing temperatures in the tent saw fillings melt and meringues wobble.

Iain said of his time on the BBC show: "My worst moment has to be 'bin-cident'. I didn't handle the pressure in the tent as well as everyone else. It was a very hot day with everyone fighting for space in the freezers, and I didn't feel that I coped with the situation very well.

"I am passionate as a personality and a baker, so I do tend to get frustrated when the bakes don't go well, and I will have to learn to deal with that."

Iain is the fourth contestant to go from the Bake Off after Jordan Cox, Claire Goodwin and Enwezor Nzegwu were voted off in previous weeks.