Vanessa Feltz show guest apologises after remarks spark almost 2,000 complaints
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Vanessa Feltz's talk show has been hit with nearly 2,000 Ofcom complaints after a guest called a mother 'selfish' for wanting to breastfeed.
Earlier this year, the 63-year-old announced she was leaving This Morning after 33 years.
The broadcaster was a regular contributor to ITV, but now has her own show on Channel 5, which she has described as a 'politics-free zone'.
However, after inviting fashion designer Karen Millen onto her sofa to speak, her programme has been hit by a wave of complaints from viewers.
Vanessa reportedly asked Karen what she thought about breastfeeding a three-year-old child.
Karen replied: 'There's no benefit, is there, for a child to be breastfed beyond six months really. I think it's quite a selfish thing on the mother's part.'
She went on to say: 'I just think that's not good emotionally for that child. I mean, what does that child do later in life?
'The attachment – like you say it becomes an addiction and an addiction for that child too because they only know the boob. It's just not normal, is it? I'm sorry, I find it very weird.'
Following the episode, 1,856 complaints were made to Ofcom, as some viewers also took to social media.
Good Morning Britain – March 8, 2021: A discussion about the interview between Oprah Winfrey and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex received a whopping 54,595 complaints.
Celebrity Big Brother – January 10, 2007: This episode, which focused on the alleged bullying of Shilpa Shetty by fellow housemates, received 45,159 complaints.
Celebrity Big Brother – August 30, 31, and September 1, 2018: A huge 25,327 complaints were made following Roxanne Pallett's allegation of assault by Ryan Thomas.
Britain's Got Talent – September 5, 2020: Diversity's performance generated 25,017 complaints after viewers perceived it as supporting Black Lives Matter.
Love Island – August 6, 2021: In total 24,921 complaints were made focusing on Faye's behaviour towards Teddy.
Julia Hartley-Brewer interview – January 3, 2024: Julia's interview with Palestinian politician Dr. Mustafa Barghouti received 17,366 complaints according to Ofcom.
@richardbuka wrote on X: 'My god, Karen Millen is a moron. How do we live in a society where it is considered unnatural to breastfeed but ok to reconstitute freeze-dried whey protein from an animal that diverged in evolution from us 100 million years ago and shove that into a baby every four hours?'
@keyboardgirl8 added: 'I thought Karen Millen dresses faded away in the 2000s. Glad I haven't purchased anything from them in a long time, what an ignorant woman.'
@tichenekr also commented: 'Can safely say I'll never buy from Karen Millen again. Disgraceful.'
Since her appearance on Vanessa's show, Karen has apologised, saying: 'I know I've upset a lot of your viewers and that was not my intention'.
In a clip, she can be heard explaining: 'The question was aimed at a three-year-old being breastfed and my thoughts on that and my answers reflected that, not the subject of breastfeeding.
'I have three children and I breastfed all three of them up to six or seven months…
'I think my issue was more on the fact as a baby breast milk is the best and beyond being a baby, growing into toddler, I just found it more difficult to comes to terms with how it would benefit a three-year-old..
'And as a woman to women, I do respect your choices and I do want to support you…'
This comes after Vanessa was criticised for comments she made about people with coeliac disease in 2023, with her remarks being blasted as 'irresponsible' by viewers.
A caller named Alison claimed she was 'being forced to have a gluten-free Christmas' because her mother-in-law insisted the meal be void of gluten to cater to one person, who has to have a gluten-free diet.
Responding, Vanessa said: 'She's treating coeliac disease as if it's a kind of fatal, potentially fatal peanut allergy and that they can't have anything with gluten in the house, which is completely unreasonable.' More Trending
Following the segment, the charity Coeliac UK released a statement lambasting what was said, and also posted an open letter that the organisation addressed to ITV.
The tweet read: 'Today on ITV's @thismorning, coeliac disease was discussed during a phone in segment on the show. We are deeply concerned about the content and advice given to a caller attending a Christmas family event where all of the food will be gluten free to protect the health of a person with coeliac disease.'
Metro has approached Karen Millen and Channel 5 for comment.
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Vanessa is available to watch on Channel 5.
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