THIS Morning has been hit with Ofcom complaints by infuriated viewers over Cat Deeley’s ‘joke’.
Cat Deeley, who took over hosting the show alongside Ben Shepherd in March, was forced to apologise after a poorly-conceived joke.
The moment, which aired on Monday’s show, saw Cat dancing and shimmying to Meghan Trainor track, All About That Bass, before declaring she was “having a seizure”.
The off-the-cuff comment resulted in fans that suffer from seizures as well as the Epilepsy Society, who claimed Cat was making light of the condition.
Epilepsy is a condition of the brain which can disrupt the electrical communication between neurons in the nervous system.
This often leads to seizures, a sudden event that can change a person’s awareness, behaviour or feeling.
Despite Cat appearing on the show the next day apologising for her misjudged ‘joke’, by that point complaints had already been made by Ofcom.
On June 17, 66 people filed a complaint to the broadcasting watchdog over the comment.
Ofcom have not made any comment about investigating the moment.
When Cat apologised on Tuesday, she told viewers: “I really wanted to apologise to anyone I offended yesterday when I made a light- hearted joke about my dancing style.
“It was really wasn’t meant to cause any upset to anybody but I can see why that might have been the case, so I do apologise. I am very sorry.”
“That would never be our intention,” Ben added, prompting Cat to add, “It didn’t come from that place at all.”
It was later reported Cat was made to apologise by This Morning bosses, although some
A show insider told MailOnline: “This Morning are so worried about offending anybody they asked Cat to apologise, hoping that would be the end of the matter.
“It’s not something she suggested, but understood the decision.
“The show is desperate to avoid any controversy after what’s happened over the past two years.
“But there is a feeling behind the scenes the apology wasn’t overly necessary.”
'I have epilepsy and Cat Deeley should be ashamed'
By Anna Roberts, Associate Editor, Fabulous
“Epilepsy is a huge, heavy burden and seizure jokes aren’t funny in the slightest.
“Cat Deeley – who I’ve loved since her CD:UK days – ought to be ashamed of herself for making such a crass, ableist remark.”
“Let me tell you what having a seizure is really like.
“It’s dislocated shoulders (four at last count – fingers crossed that’s the end of it after having major surgery), being rushed to hospital because you’ve smashed your head so hard your eyes have haemorrhaged, waking with your mouth full of blood, days off where you can’t go on holiday because you are so tired so you just sleep.
“It’s learning the tablets you take to control the seizures mean you won’t ever have children – but what choice do you have?
“I’m not surprised the epilepsy community is so furious… I am, hence someone as lazy as me complaining to Ofcom.
“She ought to be ashamed and embarrassed about her comment.”
Read the full story here.
The upset comes after it was revealed ITV’s mid-morning show’s viewing figures had almost halved in two months.
Just over a million saw Cat and Ben debut as the hosts in mid-March, but by the same point in May the peak fell to 589,000 – with an average of 486,000 tuning in to the ITV show.
This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV.
