In Love and Toxic’s Michael shares huge regret on interracial comment to Lauren
In Love and Toxic: Blue Therapy's Michael has shared his one regret about discussing race with girlfriend Lauren Cofie on the brand new Channel 4 reality series.
The Herefordshire doggy-day care manager shot from anonymity to national fame last month, after a clip of him admitting his concerns dating a Black woman went viral and sparked a heated dialogue about interracial relationships.
The confession came when Lauren confronted Michael for going on a recent family holiday without her, despite the fact other partners of his relatives had been invited on the trip. The 'Too Late' singer also questioned why he hadn't introduced her to his loved ones yet, even though they'd already been together a year.
Channel 4 Screengrab CAPTION: In Love and Toxic LINK:It was during this tense exchange that Michael revealed his anxieties about being in an interracial relationship, including his fear that his family may accidentally saying the wrong thing to Lauren. The Nottingham native immediately appears baffled by the admission, telling him that it's "not good enough" of an excuse for his behaviour. However, with the mediation of wellness coach Jo Dash, the couple soon came to see each other's viewpoint on the sensitive issue.
Speaking exclusively about the experience to the Mirror, Lauren admitted that she was initially ‘confused’ by her boyfriend bringing race up, but that, after discussing the matter in depth, came to see Michael's perspective.
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"I didn’t speak for ages. I was just trying to fathom it, because firstly, it was just a shock," she admits. "And then talking about it, all the things that didn’t get aired, it made sense. I let him speak. We’re in an interracial relationship. We’d both only dated our own races before, we were both in the same place," she said.
Michael has received strong ‘backlash’ for the clip, with countless people accusing the canine expert for being prejudiced against his partner. It didn’t help that several of his critics had only watched an excerpt of the full scene, and therefore didn’t see the conversation played out in the episode.
"It was the only thing from the show I got nervous about," he said. "The main problem was that the clip that went viral was just a little clip. Not everyone watched the full show and understood the context around it. A lot of people were quick to jump on the bandwagon, call me racist, call me names. Which is a shame. It’s important to have these open conversations about race."
Lauren revealed she has now met Michael's family
London singer Lauren Cofie says she 'appreciates' Michael discussing the issue of race with herThe loved-up couple are both content with how the therapy session was edited, but the criticism from strangers online has undeniably been a strain. While Michael had given his family a heads up that race would be discussed in the episode, he hadn’t been prepared for the degree of trolling he'd receive over the clip.
"At first they [his family] understood it and they didn’t think it was bad, but then the backlash came. My only regret was that my family got brought into it. They don’t know my family," he insisted. Having now met Michael's family, Lauren admits she has no idea why he was so worried.
"I realised he was just petrified in case someone says a silly thing, not that they're actually racist. After meeting his family, I was like, 'Michael, why did you even say that on the show? Everyone is so lovely!'"
Lauren, who revealed she has endured 'so much racism' in the UK including daily microaggressions, also said that she "appreciates" her beau's refusal to shy away from the subject.
"A lot of people want to take the stance of, 'I don't even see colour, my family wouldn't even notice...' but we're being real," she said. "There is a difference. Michael is just acknowledging we're in an interracial relationship. It's real life. It's a hard discussion. You need to acknowledge something before you can make changes."
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