Phillip Schofield usually manages to keep things pretty chilled on the This Morning sofa.
Whether it's a small girl doing an audition to replace the bongs of Big Ben or a cancer survivor telling a story of extreme suffering and perseverance, Schof tends to keep it together and show respect to his guests. He's the model professional, except perhaps for when Holly Willoughby makes one of her trademark innuendo gaffes.
Imagine our surprise, then, when he snapped this morning on, well, This Morning. Phillip and co-host Holly Willoughby were discussing the case of a maths teacher who faces the sack from his school after misidentifying a transgender pupil.
Advert
TAKE A LOOK AT THE VID:
Credit: ITV / This Morning
Joshua Sutcliffe said, 'well done, girls' to a group that included a child who identifies as a boy, a mistake that he has described as 'a slip of the tongue'. It didn't seem that much of a tongue slip, however, as Sutcliffe, 27, kept calling the child 'her' throughout the interview, which Phil and Holly were at pains to point out was inappropriate.
Advert
Joshua, a Christian who grew up in a religious community in rural Canada, said that he had received 'no proper dialogue or training' in dealing with transgender children.
Credit: This Morning / ITV
He added: "Being intuitive I thought this student wanted to be called a boy. I wanted to welcome this student, welcome her..."
Advert
This provoked the repute from Schofield.
"Of course, this is the issue. I don't know. I would say the first name. I wanted to incorporate her in the lesson," continued Sutcliffe, again using the wrong words.
"Personally, and under law in this country and biologically it makes sense for us to be man and woman," Joshua added, digging an even bigger hole for himself.
Teacher Joshua Sutcliffe and Christian Concern chief executive Andrea Williams. Credit: ITV / This Morning
Advert
"Our policies should be influenced by biology and law rather than what I would say an ideology."
Holly and Phil were clearly shocked, but everything remained relatively civil. Enter Andrea Williams, the chief executive of religious group Christian Concern.
"Very often when we see children who are identifying as homosexual, very often it's not good for them to live out in such a lifestyle. It's not good for them to be highly sexual," said Ms Williams - which caused the usually sanguine Schofield to blow a fuse.
"I'm finding this utterly abhorrent," said the presenter. As the interview ended, he added: "We'll get back to the show and back to 2017 instead of medieval Britain."
Featured Image Credit: ITV / This MorningTopics: This Morning, TV and Film, Holly Willoughby, Phillip Schofield