"I once sacked a member of my staff because he showed absolutely no sense of humour during a house fire," Sharon Osbourne declared on British television show, Would I Lie To You?, this week.

The premise of the show is for a celebrity guest to make an outrageous statement, and for the opposing team to work out if they are telling the truth or lying. It turns out Osbourne was telling the truth, as she went on to explain ... in great detail.

Sharon Osbourne admitted to firing an assistant for not having a sense of humour about a house fire she sent him into during BBC show 'Would I Lie To You?'. YouTube / BBC

The member of staff in question was the assistant of the The X Factor judge's husband, Ozzy Osbourne, "at the time". According to Osbourne, the fire took place on a "chilly Christmas night" and was started by a copper candle, which she seemingly left burning when she went to bed. The couple were woken up by a fire alarm and Ozzy Osbourne was "set on fire" when he went down to investigate what was happening.

When asked where the assistant was as the fire took place, she replied with a scowl: "Sleeping."

She then woke the unnamed assistant up and sent them into the burning house to retrieve paintings and the family's dogs. Throughout the anecdote her fellow panellists questioned the moral decision of sending the member of staff into the fire. Osbourne remained indignant.

Sharon Osbourne (right) with daughter Kelly Osbourne (left) and husband Ozzy Osbourne (centre) at the after party for a screening of movie 'A Million Little Pieces' on December 4, 2019 in West Hollywood, California. Getty Images

Eventually the fire brigade arrived and offered oxygen to the assistant, but Osbourne "took the mask and put it on [her] dog" before sending them back in to collect more of their art.

The story then came back around to sacking the assistant for not having a sense of humour, which she explained, saying, "After this terrible night he was not talking to me, and Ozzy and I were recounting everything and we were laughing and laughing, and he goes, 'I don't see what's funny about any of this ... I think I'm going to have damaged lungs'.

"So then I said, 'If you don't think that's funny, do you think this is funny? You're fired'."

The Christmas special episode was screened in the UK on Thursday, December 26.

Osbourne slammed on Twitter

Sharon Osbourne's stint on the panel show has faced criticism online, on Twitter in particular.

"What kind of trash fires someone after forcing them into a burning building?" one Twitter user asked, directing the question directly to Osbourne. A second added: "[ABC Network] it might be time to give [Sharon Osbourne] the boot. She thinks it's funny to send an assistant in to a burning building to retrieve paintings and dogs, takes the oxygen given to him by medic for the dog sends him back in to the fire then sacks him. She's morally bankrupt."

@MrsSOsbourne absolutely disgusting to hear a person was forced into a burning building to safe paintings And then fired! Then this woman found it funny! She should be ashamed and pledge to donate some of her fortune to a charity for those affected be fire or burns! — Mr_Dejavu_King (@MrDejavuKing) December 27, 2019

You can watch the full clip of Sharon Osbourne on 'Would I Lie To You?' here:

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