Jill Scott under fire over 'cruel' joke aimed at 'unimpressed' Daniel Sturridge

27 November 2023 , 18:37

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Jill Scott under fire over 'cruel' joke aimed at 'unimpressed' Daniel Sturridge

Former I'm A Celebrity winner Jill Scott has come under fire alongside stars of Sky's A League of Their Own for a 'joke' that hasn't appeared to go down well with viewers.

Those angry at a recent clip of the Sky One show circulating have criticised Jill for making a swipe at a fellow footballer's career, with some claiming the joke didn't even make sense, and noted how the sports star on the receiving end of Jill's jibe didn't seem to find the savage quip very funny.

On last week's A League Of Their Own saw Lioness Jill Scott deliver a brutal jibe to former Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge as he recounted how his old club narrowly came close to winning the Premier League in 2014. Asked by host and comedian Romesh Ranganathan about what it was like to come so close to winning the title, Sturridge confessed: "I still think about it today to be honest."

The cruel jibe by Jill Scott didn't go down well with viewers who labelled it 'disrespectful'

Former Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge didn't laugh at the 'joke' by Jill

He then continued: "Because you always think you get so close to that success. Sometimes I'm driving in my car and I can hear a tune that was playing that year in the dressing room at that time and I'm vibing. And then I think damn, we didn't get it done. But you know, fortunately for the club they won the Premier League and it was a great moment for them."

Yet the awkwardness became clear as Jill responded to Sturridge as she said: "Maybe if you hadn't been vibing you might have got it done." Whilst the other guests awkwardly laughed, Sturridge didn't appear to find it funny as he let the laughter die down. Fellow star Jamie Redknapp then tried to lighten the mood as he added: "Jill is the silent assassin! Just sits there and picks people off!"

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Sturridge was an integral part of Liverpool's squad throughout the 2013-2014 season under then-manager Brendan Rodgers, with the Merseyside team very almost winning the Premier League title. Following Jurgen Klopp taking over as Liverpool manager in October 2015, Sturridge went on to join West Brom on loan in January 2018, before being released by the club in June 2019. Liverpool eventually lifted the Premier League trophy in 2020.

Following the clip shared by A League of Their Own going viral on Twitter (X), viewers of the show have slammed the joke from Jill which Sturridge appeared miffed at. One viewer tweeted: "Sturridge not even faking a giggle, making it an awkward situation for everyone involved." In response, another viewer wrote: "Thats acc rlly disrespectful from her in my opinion to just say that to him. Sturridge was giving a serious answer and acc talking about his shortcomings at Liverpool and then she just randomly says that."

One slammed Jill as they wrote: "There’s plenty of jokes she could’ve made that wouldn’t have ruined the vibe, hers was just dead and disrespectful." Another added: "Sturridge not laughing at something shows that what was said was a bit stupid (he scored 25 in 32 appearances all comps that year with 9 assists ffs)."

Others defended Jill amid the huge backlash, with one tweeting: "I see the usual man-babies are publicly soiling themselves because a (shock, horror) WOMAN dared to join in with the standard, harmless, trivial ‘footy bants’ on a TV show about standard, harmless, trivial ‘footy bants’."

Another argued the joke wasn't that deep, writing: "The men using this as a way to insult women and women’s football, people reference Stevie slipping still to this very day & you don’t lose your minds, it’s not that deep, it’s a joke on a game show."

Niamh Spence