A US entertainment website has apologised to Outlander star Caitriona Balfe and the “people of Shotts” for misquoting the actress, calling the town “an armpit”.
Locals of the North Lanarkshire town were angered after it was reported over the weekend by the Gold Derby that Balfe said Shotts would win the award for “worst location shoot”.
The chairperson of the Spotlight Shotts community group, Margaret McSeveney, told BBC Scotland over the weekend that the reported comments were “hurtful,” adding there are “a lot of good things” about the town.
The actress appeared alongside her co-star Sam Heughan for the popular time-travelling romantic drama set in Scotland for a Q&A with the website.
Gold Derby has since apologised for misquoting the actress, stating that it “deeply regrets” the “editing error”.
A spokesperson for the entertainment site said: “We have removed a video featuring Outlander stars Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan. Due to an editing error, Caitriona Balfe was misquoted in the clip.
“Gold Derby deeply regrets the error and sincerely apologizes to Caitriona Balfe, the people of Shotts, and everyone involved.”
In the released unedited transcript, the exchange shows Balfe, who plays Clare Randall in the show, made the comment about a “particular place” in the town and not Shotts as a whole.
In the unedited transcript of the clip, Balfe said: “It's a particular place in Shotts. I just want to be specific. It's not the town - the little village.
“They found an old dump that was also kind of a swamp, and we were there for over a week, and our sets kept getting attacked, and it was not my favourite place.”
Outlander was reportedly filmed near Hartwood Hill, near the site of an abandoned hospital, in 2024, but filming was plagued with “difficulties,” forcing the crew to abandon the location after a couple of weeks.
It was reported that filming was disrupted by youths, who allegedly stole a quad bike and set it alight, according to BBC Scotland.
The crew also reportedly had a “lot of difficulties” with the ground being impenetrable at the set.
