He continued to quip about the natural disaster by referencing the popular British reality dating show "Love Island."
"Get your teeth done while you are over there," Payne added. "Come back looking 19 years old. You’ll be on ‘Love Island’ next year if you are doing that."
REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK: A WEEK OF CLOSE-UP HORRORS AND HEROICS IN THE TURKISH EARTHQUAKE ZONE
People remove furniture and household appliances out of a collapsed building after a devastating earthquake rocked Syria and Turkey in the town of Jinderis, Aleppo province, Syria, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023.
The comment received almost 600 Ofcom complaints, according to The Independent, with listeners calling it "disgusting" and "disgraceful." Several others on social media called for him to be fired.
Liberal Democrat councillor Suzanne Nuri-Nixon weighed in, saying he "misread the room."
Footage has captured a survivor of the devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake being removed from underneath rubble in Antakya, Turkey, in the hard-hit Hatay province. (@onylm29 via SPECTEE/TMX)
STAGGERING TURKEY EARTHQUAKE DEATH TOLL INCLUDES AT LEAST 3 US CITIZENS: STATE DEPARTMENT
Payne apologized for the joke on Twitter Tuesday, admitting it was "insensitive" and "ill timed."
"Hi guys, I want to address the comment I made last night on the show," he wrote. "It was insensitive and ill timed. I would never wish to offend anyone from my shows. My sincere and wholehearted apologies."
The United Nations has requested $397 million in aid for survivors of the catastrophic earthquake that rocked Turkey and Syria last week. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Fox News Digital has reached out to Global, the owner of Capital, for comment.
TURKEY-SYRIA EARTHQUAKE DEATH TOLL LIKELY TO SURPASS 56,000, UN EMERGENCY AID CHIEF SAYS
Last week's 7.8- and 7.6-magnitude earthquakes in southeastern Turkey and northern Syria are the deadliest such disaster in modern Turkish history, according to the Associated Press, with Turkey now facing water shortages and disease risks. The death toll is expected to surpass 56,000 people, United Nations emergency relief chief Martin Griffiths recently said.
"I think it is difficult to estimate precisely as we need to get under the rubble but I'm sure it will double or more," Griffiths told Sky News. "That's terrifying. This is nature striking back in a really harsh way."