ITV This Morning star apologises over 'offensive' remark as viewers issue complaint
This Morning presenter Ben Shephard was forced to issue an apology as the programme came to a close after one guest's remark sparked backlash.
This Morning: Ben forced to apologise after an earlier comment
This Morning swiftly addressed a comment made by a guest during Wednesday's ITV programme.
As the show drew to a close, presenter Ben Shephard remarked: "We just want to take a moment to apologise if viewers were offended by a phrase that we used, by one of the teams that we had on the show today.
"If anybody was, we would like to say sorry."
The apology followed a segment where the show had been discussing current news items with Gyles Brandreth and Sayeeda Warsi, reports Wales Online.
During a conversation about hairdressers being a hub for people to share their worries, Sayeeda noted: "First of all, hairdressers are the place people go and offload. For a lot of people, especially older people, hairdressers are one of the few places where they still get regular company."
"They don't have a lot of human contact, many of them who may be living on their own. Particularly for black men or coloured men, or Asian men, I know I have doctors who say when men of certain backgrounds come in to hospital and you talk to them about how much pain they're in, they always undersell because they're brought up to not share their feelings and to try and be tough."
Viewers quickly took to Twitter to express their opinions on the language used.
One viewer commented: "'Coloured Men', it's 2025, this type of language!!!" Another added: ""Coloured men" What colour were they? #ThisMorning"
One viewer expressed their disbelief, writing: "'Coloured Men' it's not the 50s 60s 70s ffs how has she not been reprimanded."
Another chimed in with: "#thismorning coloured men? ! How is this allowed and you've let her keep talking?!"
A different individual questioned: "How is it acceptable for Sayeeda to say" coloured men"? @sayeedawarsi #thismorning."
While another echoed similar sentiments, tweeting: "'Coloured men'?? Did she just say that on national TV like it's nothing?"
This isn't the first time This Morning has come under fire from its viewers, with a segment earlier in the week being labelled 'cruel'.
On Monday, presenters Cat and Ben were joined by two dogs and their owners, who had participated in this year's annual Greenwich dog show.
The canine guests had competed in a new category introduced for 2025, the Best Bridgerton Lookalike.
Appearing on the ITV programme, the dogs were adorned in costumes complete with wigs as their owners discussed the competition.
Despite some viewers expressing outrage at seeing the dogs dressed up on the show, the two hosts addressed the potential backlash they might face.
Cat pointed out how content the dogs seemed, while Ben added: "There will be people asking, 'Are the dogs happy?' because dressing dogs up can sometimes get some criticism. Are they happy wearing the outfits? She seems pretty unbothered."
In response, Charlotte's owner said: "She's pretty used to wearing clothes in general; when we go out, I tend to dress her up and try to coordinate our outfits."
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NBC News
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- NBC News
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Wales Online
40 minutes ago
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The number of parents fined and prosecuted for not sending their children to school in Wales
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They have told Estyn this failure to act is is "restricting their ability to challenge families to improve pupils' attendance". The data shows while some councils are issuing fines and prosecuting parents for not sending their children to school others, such as Anglesey, are not. Sign up for our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here. Fixed penalty notice (FPN) fines for parents not sending their children to school are £60 rising to £120 if that's not paid within 28 days. Parents can be prosecuted if they do not pay those fines or if there is a recurring pattern of their children being absent from lessons. WalesOnline asked all 22 councils for data on fines, prosecutions, and fixed penalty notices issued in respect of children absent from school in the spring term 2025. Only 13 of the 22 councils responded to our requests, despite a statutory timeframe of 20 working days for doing so, meaning the true figures for fines and court cases will be higher. Only Cardiff, Wales' largest local education authority, provided details of total amounts that fines cost parents last term. The prosecutions listed may refer to absences before last term and may not be connected in all cases to the FPNs issued last term. Fines issued by each council to parents whose children didn't attend school in the spring term 2025 Anglesey Anglesey said it issues no fines and there were no prosecutions for parents not sending their children to school there last term but the council admitted this did not mean there was not a need to do so. A spokesman for Anglesey Council said: "This isn't because sometimes there hasn't been a need. However we have made a decision to focus on working with parents without having to resort to using legal channels." Blaenau Gwent Overall 77 FPNs were issued while there were 59 prosecutions which all resulted in financial penalties but the amounts were not specified. Bridgend Five FPNs were handed out but there were no prosecutions. A Bridgend County Borough Council spokesman said: 'In line with our latest policy a total of five fixed-penalty notices (FPNs) were issued to parents/carers in relation to school absences during spring term 2025. 'Our policy in relation to FPNs reinforces our positive messaging in local communities about the impact school attendance has on the overall development, learning, and wellbeing of our pupils. 'A range of factors are always taken into account such as the level of unauthorised absence, any equalities considerations, additional needs, history of attendance, the level of parental engagement, and any adverse effect a fine will have on the welfare of the family in question.' Caerphilly In total 75 FPNs were issued though six were withdrawn. There were eight prosecutions with seven fines and one remaining outstanding. The council said: "If a pupil who is registered at a school fails to attend regularly and attempts by the education welfare officer and the school fail to secure regular attendance consideration will be given to issuing the parent with a fixed penalty notice. Unless there are known mitigating circumstances the local authority could also consider taking legal action by issuing a summons against the parents to appear before the magistrates' court under section 444 of the 1996 Education Act. "In deciding whether to take legal action the EWO (education welfare officer) must be satisfied that there is sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction. It must consider what the defence case may be and how this is likely to affect the prosecution case." Cardiff Overall 220 FPNs were issued. There were also 34 prosecutions with outcomes as follows: Three parents were fined £40 Four parents were fined £60 Three parents were fined £80 Eight parents were fined £120 Two parents were fined £180 Eight parents were fined £220 Three parents were fined £440 One parent was given a six-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £75 prosecution costs and a £26 victim surcharge One parent was handed a community order for a period of 18 months to include 25 rehabilitation order requirement (RAR) days plus a £120 fine, £150 prosecution costs, and £114 victim surcharge One parent was made subject to a 12-month community order with 10 RAR days and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £80 and a £114 victim surcharge In the first seven cases disposed of solely by fines above all parents were required to pay court costs of between £75 and £150 and a victim surcharge of between £16 and £176. Ceredigion The council said there were fewer than five FPNs and prosecutions initiated by the local authority last term. The council said: "Ceredigion local authority always aim to work in partnership with parents in order to resolve reasons for non-attendance and therefore any consideration of punitive measures is always used as a last resort." Conwy Overall 46 FPNs were issued between January 6, 2025, and April 11, 2025. None of the FPNs from this period have been prosecuted yet. Monmouthshire Monmouthshire council said it did not issue any FPNs or have any prosecutions go through in the spring term 2025. Neath Port Talbot The council issued 29 FPNs and there were seven prosecutions with six guilty pleas and one not guilty plea. Pembrokeshire In total 65 FPNs were issued with four prosecutions initiated for "entrenched school absence". Two parents were due to appear in court in May. The council said: "Each school within the authority has their own separate absence policy. The education welfare service are currently undergoing an evaluation of the service and will be writing a model policy for schools for September 2025." Swansea The authority sent 52 fixed penalty notice warning letters and this resulted in 33 fixed penalty notices being issued in full. There were no prosecutions last term. Torfaen Torfaen Council provided data for a different time period but it said the main reason for issuing FPNs has been unauthorised holidays being taken during term time. The council said between March 2024 and April 2025 there were a total 261 FPNs issued though 11 were later withdrawn. It said absence rates had fallen slightly but were still higher than pre-pandemic levels. Vale of Glamorgan The council issued 37 FPNs while there were no prosecutions last term. How school attendance has plunged since classrooms shut in the pandemic Latest Welsh Government figures on school absence, released on June 3, show average attendance for the 2023-24 academic year in Wales was 90.5% – down from 94.3% in 2018-19. This is a fall in attendance of 3.8 percentage points since the pandemic. Attendance is counted not in numbers of pupils but in numbers of half-day school sessions. The main reason for children not being in school was illness at 4% followed by all unauthorised absences, including holidays without agreement and being late, at 3.3%. Holidays alone represent 0.6% of unauthorised absence.. The law – under the Education (Pupil Registration) (Wales) Regulations 2010 – says head teachers can authorise absences for pupils to go on holiday but "save in exceptional circumstances" pupils should not be given more than 10 school days leave in any school year. Average attendance in 2023-24 was lowest among pupils in year 11 at 85.3% and highest amongst pupils in year three at 92.6%. Attendance among year 11 pupils was 7.9 percentage points lower than it was in 2018-19. Attendance in primary school year groups fell by 2.3 to 2.7 percentage points over the same period. The figures showed 53.3% of pupils eligible for free school meals were persistently absent in 2023-24, up from 30.4% in 2018-19. Persistent absence is when a child misses 10% or more of half-day school sessions. Article continues below Responding to warnings about attendance from Estyn last month the Welsh Government said: "Raising school attendance is a key commitment. School attendance has increased by 0.5% this year and we continue to invest in family engagement officers and community-focused schools to respond to the needs of learners and build strong partnerships with families and the wider community." The problem is reflected across other parts of the UK.
South Wales Guardian
2 hours ago
- South Wales Guardian
Sue Cleaver reflects on '25 years of laughs' after Coronation Street exit
Eileen Grimshaw had a special send-off during Friday's episode of the soap, where she was seen leaving for Thailand alongside her son Jason Grimshaw, played by Ryan Thomas. Simon Gregson's character Steve McDonald, Tony Maudsley's George Shuttleworth, and Eileen's son Todd, played by Gareth Pierce, all said goodbye to the matriarch before drivers from the local taxi firm honked their horns as she was driven off. In an Instagram post, Cleaver said: 'Well… that's a wrap. 25 years of laughs, tears, costumes, chaos — and one unforgettable journey. A post shared by Sue Cleaver (@officialsuecleaver) 'I'll miss this character like crazy, but what a ride it's been. Thank you for every moment.' Cleaver has played the outspoken and uncomplicated Eileen in the ITV show since 2000. Eileen came to Weatherfield to work at the local taxi firm, Streetcars, to provide for her two tearaway teenage children, Jason and Todd. She soon became friends with her boss Steve and came into conflict with Helen Worth's character Gail Rodwell (also known as Gail Platt). Cleaver took part in I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! in 2022, where she opened up about reconciling with her birth mother, and was eliminated third. She also said her family is 'bizarrely interconnected' to other Coronation Street stars, including Worth who is godmother to one of her half-sisters, while her other half-sister's husband, John Bowe, appeared on the cobbles as Duggie Ferguson. In 2024, she released a book A Work In Progress in which she discusses how she feels she is not past her prime. In recent years she has appeared as a panellist on ITV chat show Loose Women.
