Vanessa Feltz's comments makes This Morning one of most complained shows in 2023
TV star Vanessa Feltz's remarks about coeliac disease on This Morning have riled a lot of viewers.
Official complaints about her comments have now topped 2,000. During her appearance on the ITV show, Vanessa had labelled the behaviour of a caller's mother-in-law, who banned them from bringing their own food to a gluten-free christmas-dinner>Christmas dinner, as "completely unreasonable".
It caused quite a stir among the programme's audience as her comments initially received 1,092 complaints according to a report by Ofcom published on December 20. It made the episode one of the top ten most moaned-about broadcasts in 2023. A subsequent report unveiled on January 3 revealed that an additional 1,177 objections were lodged, pushing the total tally up to 2,269.
Vanessa made the comment when responding to a viewer's call about Christmas dinner (ITV)This Morning's controversial segment elevated the show to the fifth position of the most whinged-about programmes last year. It followed closely behind a discussion about junior doctors' pay dispute on Channel 5's Jeremy Vine show - fourth place with 2,302 complaints. Ofcom has confirmed it is still reviewing the complaints before deciding whether to launch a full-scale investigation.
During the segment on This Morning, Vanessa discussed a caller who asked their mother-in-law if they could bring their own food to the Christmas meal due to a guest suffering from coeliac disease. The TV star responded to the caller's claim that they couldn't bring any food, saying: "So she's treating coeliac disease as if it's a potentially fatal peanut allergy and they can't have anything with gluten in the house which is completely unreasonable."
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The 61-year-old said sorry on her TalkTV show for any confusion or offence caused by her words, stating: "If anyone misunderstood or felt that I did, I am very sorry". She explained on the programme: "I said what I said there, and then I said, but I've been thinking about it, and in the spirit of Christmas I think you should go, I think you should eat the gluten-free meal that your mother-in-law is kindly preparing."
Vanessa added: "I did not, nor would I for a second, suggest that they should put the coeliac guest at risk in any way, nor did I suggest that they bring their own food and shove it in their mother-in-law's oven or put it on the table, I wouldn't dream of that. And nor did I intend in any shape of form to show any disrespect or misunderstanding of how unpleasant it can be leading your life as a coeliac, partly because some of my best friends are coeliacs...
"So I know how horrible it is as a coeliac if, by any mistake, you should find yourself eating something with gluten in it. I am astounded by the reaction and horrified that anyone's upset, I would never want to upset anyone." She also mentioned she had checked her comments with experts, saying: "I don't think I said anything wrong, but if anyone misunderstood or felt that I did, I am very sorry."
On December 19, This Morning delved deeper into the topic of coeliac disease and cross-contamination. The show also faced 92 complaints about Dr Zoe's remarks on the subject, as per Ofcom. Gluten-free food expert Becky Excell also joined the ITV programme before Christmas to chat about gluten-free meal choices.
* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can report any errors to [email protected]
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