THIS Morning has been clobbered with more than 600 complaints following an on-air rant about nut allergies.
Host Dermot O’Leary was forced to issue an apology following the controversial outburst from guest broadcaster Nick Ferrari.
But Dermot’s sorry to the nation was not enough to appease angry fans, who have complained to television watchdog Ofcom in their droves.
A total of 637 have logged their objections following the segment which aired on ITV1 on Tuesday May 28.
Nick’s rant came during This Morning’s The Morning View, which sees the show’s hosts and two guests discussing the top news stories of the day.
Last Tuesday, Dermot O’Leary and Josie Gibson were joined in the studio by journalist Isla Traquair and by LBC presenter Nick, via video link.
They were talking about the world’s first dog-friendly airline, Bark AIR, which costs £4,000 a ticket, when Nick decided to let off steam.
Nick began spouting about his ‘ideal’ airline – and he said peanuts would NOT be banned to protect allergy sufferers.
He said: “I’d love to run an airline. I don’t know about you, but here are some of the restrictions; no babies or children who cry, nobody who tries to recline their seat, nobody who doesn’t fancy a drink mid air.
“No men wearing flip-flops – if they haven’t got socks, they’re not allowed on. And probably nobody who hasn’t got a sense of humour or is wearing a funny hat.”
Nick then added: “Oh, and if you don’t like peanuts, don’t get on the plane either because I do and I can’t eat them because someone at the back of the plane is going to drop dead or something if I have a peanut. I don’t quite know why. But there’s my airline.”
As Josie laughed nervously, Dermot repeatedly hit his head with his paper script and mused: “Urgh, where do I begin to start unpacking this?!”
But although they were laughing, viewers at home were not – and one was the founder of Creative Nature, a big allergen-free food company which stocks in UK supermarkets.
They wrote on Instagram: “THIS MORNING, THIS IS SIMPLY NOT GOOD ENOUGH!
“We are absolutely appalled by this recent segment on This Morning.
“Instead of the presenters standing up and showcasing this comment was wrong they simply just sat there and laughed. This Morning, do you think this is good enough?
“You are continuing to allow people to see allergies as a joke, someone dying on an airline due to someone eating nuts on board could be someone’s reality. That is absolutely in no way a joke to be laughed at on national tv.”
Another viewer, a campaigner for better allergy care in schools, wrote: “What a disgrace @thismorning laughing and ridiculing life threatening allergy in the air.
“This is the ignorance that causes death. My teenage son has to listen to this s*** & go thru life surrounded by ignorant people like you #nickferrari shame on you.”
Others urged people to complain to Ofcom – of which more than 600 people did.
Just 24 hours later, Josie and Dermot looked solemn as they opened the day’s The Morning View segment.
Dermot apologised for Nick’s comments and told viewers that This Morning will be airing a ‘special segment’ on flying with allergies on a future show.
He said: “Quickly, before we start, yesterday there was a reference on the show to nut allergies in The Morning View.
“Apologies from us. We just want to reiterate we take those very seriously, especially dangerous ones, on the show.”
