The “editing mistake” landed the Irish actress in some hot water with the locals.

Outlet apologizes for misquoting Outlander star Caitríona Balfe, reporting she called Scotland town ‘an armpit’

The "editing mistake" landed the Irish actress in some hot water with the locals.

By Shania Russell

Shania Russell

Shania Russell is a news writer at *, *with five years of experience. Her work has previously appeared in SlashFilm and Paste Magazine.

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May 24, 2026 3:46 p.m. ET

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Caitríona Balfe attends 'Outlander' finale Los Angeles premiere May 15. Credit:

Michael Kovac/Getty

- Shotts, a small Scotland town, was outraged to hear Outlander star Caitríona Balfe refer to their home as an "armpit."

- In a video interview, the actress appeared to name the town as her least favorite filming location.

- Gold Derby, the outlet behind the clip, has apologized for misquoting the actress as part of an "editing error."

Caitríona Balfe is in the clear after mistakenly igniting the anger of a small Scotland town.

Over the weekend, the *Outlander* star made an enemy of the North Lanarkshire town Shotts, after calling it "an armpit" during a Gold Derby video interview. The segment, titled "And the Award goes to…," asked Balfe and costar Sam Heughan to name the worst filming location they experienced.

The original clip sees Balfe respond, "We filmed at a place in season 8 — I think it’s called Shotts — an armpit... and I’m very sorry."

Heughan added, "Oh… sorry Scotland.”

The comments were not well received, with locals telling BBC Scotland News that the description was insulting and did not reflect the people in the area. As it turns out, the whole debacle is just a misunderstanding.

Caitríona Balfe in 'Outlander'.

The video has since been removed and Gold Derby has issued an apology, clarifying that Balfe was misquoted as part of an "editing error."

The outlet explained that the Irish actress' "armpit" comment was in relation to a "particular place" in the town rather than Shotts as a whole.

"We have removed a video featuring *Outlander* stars Caitríona Balfe and Sam Heughan. Due to an editing error, Caitríona Balfe was misquoted in the clip," read Gold Derby's statement shared to X.

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Caitríona Balfe details the last scene she filmed with Sam Heughan for 'Outlander'

The outlet went on to share the entirety of Balfe's unedited comment: "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 favorite place."

The X post concluded, "Gold Derby deeply regrets the error and sincerely apologizes to Caitríona Balfe, the people of Shotts, and everyone involved."

Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan on 'Outlander'.

In 2024, *Outlander* filmed near Hartwood Hill, by the site of an abandoned hospital, The Daily Record reported. A source told BBC that the shoot was interrupted by a gang of youths, who stole a quad bike and set it on fire.

Balfe and Heughan are currently making the rounds to promote the final season of Outlander, the time-traveling romance series that has previously been praised for boosting Scotland's tourism.

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Speaking to* *about the grand finale, Balfe said it's been "hard to process" the dramatic conclusion of the eight-season adventure. Describing the action as "heartbreaking," she admitted to being a little thrown by the genre show's final twist, sharing, "I'm not sure that I fully understand the ending. I don't really know what happened, but I thought it was really cool."

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