Cat Deeley has been slammed by an epilepsy charity for “offensive” comments on This Morning.
The TV presenter has been urged by epilepsy charities to apologise for her comment on Monday.
Ben Shephard and Cat returned to the ITV daytime show for another round-up of recent events and topical interviews.
Among the guests on the show was US pop star Meghan Trainor, and as a recurring joke the show played clips from her hits including All About That Bass, Mother, and her new single Oops.
Cat was seen dancing and shimmying to All About That Bass, causing Ben to laugh with her.
She then declared: “Nothing to see here. Yeah, I’m fine, just having a seizure.”
hey everyone! I don’t generally post twice in a day but this needs addressing
People die from seizures and epilepsy is a life threatening condition and I am so appalled at Cat Deeley and This Morning for airing this, there needs to be more awareness for epilepsy pic.twitter.com/nDmGzGoS8P— Pippa Meadowcroft (@MeadowcrftPippa) June 17, 2024
The insensitive remark upset viewers who either suffer from seizures themselves or have loved ones who have them.
The Epilepsy Society has spoken out against Cat’s words in the moment.
They wrote on X: “Seizures are no laughing matter for people with #epilepsy @catdeeley.
Seizures are no laughing matter for people with epilepsy. People in influential positions must do better and educate themselves about this difficult and poorly understood condition.
You can read the full story here: https://t.co/NUcLAyFOf8@catdeeley @metroUK @thismorning pic.twitter.com/v2uSNyTUou
— Epilepsy Society (@epilepsysociety) June 17, 2024
“Please do better and educated yourselves about this difficult and poorly understood condition, @thismorning.”
The backlash comes after it was revealed that the ITV show’s viewing figures had almost halved in two months.
A TV insider told The Sun: “Nobody at This Morning thought viewing figures would dip beneath the landmark low of half a million.
“The arrival of Ben and Cat was supposed to spark a resurgence and hopefully keep the ratings above the million mark.
“But within a couple of weeks it became apparent they hadn’t done the trick while their nemesis Morning Live stayed strong.
“Now there is a massive question mark lingering over the future of the show as it’s difficult to justify the huge costs of making a live, daily show, especially at a time when ad revenues for linear TV are so low.”
