Complaints regarding Vanessa Feltz‘s remarks about coeliac disease have surged past the 2,000 mark.
After her comments on coeliac disease during an episode of This Morning on December 18, the TV presenter received over a thousand additional complaints, bringing the total to over 2,000.
During the show, Feltz criticized a caller’s mother-in-law for not allowing them to bring their own food to a gluten-free Christmas dinner, describing it as “completely unreasonable.” Initially, these remarks drew 1,092 complaints, as reported by Ofcom on December 20, making it the ninth most-complained about program in 2023.
In a report released on January 3, Ofcom disclosed that an additional 1,177 complaints were received, resulting in a total of 2,269 complaints. This elevated the program to the fifth most-complained about in the previous year, trailing just behind a discussion on the junior doctors’ pay dispute on Channel 5’s Jeremy Vine show, which ranked fourth with 2,302 complaints.
Ofcom confirmed that it is currently evaluating the complaints before making a decision about whether to investigate.
During the segment on This Morning, Feltz commented on a caller’s inquiry about bringing their own gluten-free food to a Christmas meal where a guest had coeliac disease. She remarked, “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.”
Feltz, aged 61, later issued an apology on her TalkTV show, acknowledging that she was sorry “if anyone misunderstood or felt that I did.” She played a clip of her initial comments and discussed them with Dr. Saleyha Ahsan and a viewer named Jason, who suffers from coeliac disease.
Feltz clarified her position: “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.”
She emphasized that she did not intend to show any disrespect or misunderstanding of the challenges faced by coeliacs, citing her friendships with coeliac individuals. Feltz expressed her surprise and concern over the reaction, asserting that she had no intention of upsetting anyone.
In a subsequent episode on December 19, This Morning revisited the coeliac disease topic, discussing cross-contamination and related issues. This program also received 92 complaints regarding comments made by Dr. Zoe on the subject, according to Ofcom. Gluten-free food writer Becky Excell appeared on the show before Christmas to discuss gluten-free meal options.
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