Elton John Hits Back at ‘Negative’ Criticism of His Filthy Oven After Viral Kitchen Video: ‘I’m Not a Dirty Person’

Singing sensation Elton John stepped into Christmas with something of a bitter taste in his mouth after a festive video he posted to celebrate his hit holiday song ended up going viral for all the wrong reasons.

Chart-topper John, 78, took to Instagram on Nov. 29 to share a video of himself walking around his kitchen, opening various cupboards, drawers, and appliances—as his hit song, "Step Into Christmas," played each time he opened something up.

"If you can’t escape it, you might as well Step Into Christmas! Who’s ready?" he captioned the clip, which amassed more than 590,000 likes and more than 18.4 million views.

However, rather than applauding John's creativity in promoting his 1973 song, many viewers were quick to call attention to another seemingly innocuous detail in the clip: the singer's oven. Or, more specifically, its rather dirty appearance.

Within minutes of posting the video, John was inundated with comments from viewers praising him for his down-to-earth approach, with many noting that they were reassured to know that someone of his wealth and fame can still have a kitchen that looks as though it's actually used.

Yet John appears to have taken the comments very much to heart, hitting back at what he claimed was "negative" feedback over the state of his kitchen.

In a new video posted to his Instagram and TikTok, John addressed the viral response to his video, admitting that he had been "startled" by the surge in popularity of the clip—and the interest in his oven, which he insisted was in no way "dirty."

"Hello people, it's Elton John here," he began the clip, which showed him sitting down in his kitchen, wearing a blue Gucci tracksuit and bold red-framed glasses.

"A couple of weeks ago, I did some videos in this kitchen about how crazy 'Step Into Christmas' was driving me, and it got an incredible response, which I was quite startled about.

"But a lot of the response was kind of negative about how dirty my oven was. My oven door, my oven window. And I can assure you, I don't have anything dirty in this house. I've never had anything dirty. I'm not a dirty person."

He concluded the video, which was captioned "Step Into Christmas PSA," by saying: "So, to prove I don't have anything that's dirty, I'm going to do something to show you."

In a subsequent clip, John could be seen in the same vibrant tracksuit but this time accessorized with a pair of bright pink, red fur-lined rubber gloves and a spray bottle of cleaning product.

Opening up the oven door—which appeared to have already been cleaned since his viral clip—John then sprayed the product on the inside, before scrubbing at it with a pink cloth.

Once again choosing his own hit, "Step Into Christmas," as the background track, John says, "La, la, la, scrub, scrub, scrub," as he continues wiping down the appliance.

"Look! I've got the cleanest oven window in Windsor!" he proclaims at the end, before slamming the oven door shut and rolling his eyes.

"Don’t think your comments go unnoticed…" he captioned the second video, which was quickly praised in the comments section, where everyone from Elizabeth Hurley to Carnie Wilson shared their positive reactions to the clip.

"You go in that Gucci suit," Wilson wrote, as Hurley chimed in: "Hilarious."

"You might be winning some kind of social media awards for this one!!" another user wrote, while several complimented John on his brightly-colored gloves.

The overwhelmingly positive comments were a far cry from the responses that John got on his very first video, where few could focus on anything but the grimy oven door.

Unlike in his latest videos, when John opened the oven in his first video, the glass was seen covered in grease stains and food residue, which many viewers were very quick to point out in the comments.

"Nice to see even Elton's oven needs cleaning before Christmas, my oven glass needs an oven doctor too," one person wrote.

Someone else added, "I want to be cleaning the inside of that oven door."

Many admitted that they felt reassured to see the very real-life state that Elton's kitchen is in—noting that it is comforting to know a star of such fame and renown has a very lived-in home.

"Our oven is (currently) cleaner than Elton’s. We are winning at life," one user added.

"I watched it twice to check his oven door, don't feel so bad about mine now!" another chimed in.

"So nice to see it is a really used kitchen and not just some show piece," a commenter pointed out, as another responded: "Nice to see the talented and famous have mundane issues in life, too!"

One person went as far as to suggest that Elton film a follow-up video in which he could show himself cleaning the dirty appliance.

"My Christmas wish—a part 2 reel from David, of Elton opening Mr Muscle oven cleaner on Christmas morning!" they joked.

While their exact wish didn't come true, John certainly came close when he posted his follow-up clips—which were taken inside his sprawling primary residence in Old Windsor.

The chart-topper bought the property in 1974 for around $528,400, although it is believed to be worth millions more today.

John, who shares two children with his husband, David Furnish, has had multiple homes in his portfolio over the years, including another property in nearby Pinner and a townhouse in London, as well as several European retreats, including homes in France and Italy.

He is also the proud owner of a stunning abode in Beverly Hills, CA, which he snapped up in 2012 after publicly refusing to live in Los Angeles.

Although he had expressed a reluctance to live in California, when he and his husband stumbled upon a 5,000-square-foot dwelling, they changed their tune.

The Trousdale Estates property, which was built in 2016, is adorned with colorful patterns, textures, and artwork.

“Everything is centered around the art,” Elton told Architectual Digest in March 2013.

“Certainly, there was a family slant in the art we chose. We focused on things that are colorful and positive and celebrations of life," Furnish told the outlet at the time.