Man With 'England World Cup Winners' Tattoo Branded 'Homophobic' Over Comment About Topless Men

Remember Jamie Richardson? You know, the overzealous guy who prematurely had 'England 2018 World Cup Winners' tattooed on his stomach?

Well, he's appeared on This Morning today (26 July) and has pissed a lot of people off with what have been taken for homophobic and transphobic comments.

The carpet fitter appeared on the show to defend men baring their chests in the segment 'Are Topless Men In Public Inappropriate?', in response to Tesco's recent ban on topless people in its stores.

Sat brazenly on the sofa bearing his tattooed chest (clearly showing dedication to the cause), Jamie talked about how he works hard in the heat all day and shouldn't be forced to wear a shirt while there's a heatwave.

Branded an exhibitionist by fellow guest Liz Brewer, Jamie went on in defence of men's bare chests, claiming there must be some sort of 'social divide'. He said: "I think it's about a class divide. Even in this day, even now."

ITV / This Morning

However, viewers were left unimpressed by his next comment, as he said: "I'll be honest with you now, in this day and age you've got transgender people, men marrying men, men going to the same toilet as women - and we're talking about a man after he's been at graft all day.

"If I want to walk down the street and take my t-shirt off - I work hard, I pay my taxes and I'm English. I'm proud to be English."

Twitter immediately saw a backlash of comments against Jamie's words, with many branding them 'homophobic'.

Twitter

One user wrote: "'We have men marrying men, transgender and we are talking about men with their tops off'. The implication is that the first two are negative and 'worse' than taking a top off."

In a heated moment between guests Liz and Jamie - both with very opposing views on the matter - Eamonn jumped off the sofa and approached Jamie in an effort to keep it all lighthearted.

Don't worry, he didn't jump up and strip down to his nips. He just couldn't let Jamie go without drawing some attention to that tattoo, that may or may not have jinxed us and cost England the World Cup.

"Just one thing," Eamonn said, speaking of the tattoo. "Unfortunately it says 2018. Do people laugh at you about that?"

ITV

"No they don't. I'm English, I'm proud to be English and we were 20 minutes away from the World Cup Final," Jamie replied.

But despite his hard-hitting approach to the defence of the bare chest, it appears the public have spoken, with 63 percent of viewers deciding it is not appropriate to take your top off in public.

"Oh," said a stunned Jamie. "That's very disappointing."

Sorry, Jamie. At least there'll be no more reminders of that tragic Croatia defeat.

Now put your top back on, there's a love.

Topics: This Morning, TV and Film, England, UK Entertainment, Tattoo

Megan Walsh

Megan is a freelance journalist and sub-editor with a BAHons degree in Journalism and Communications. Since graduating from London Metropolitan University, she has worked as a sub-editor and writer for Candis Magazine and later contributed to publications such as The Skinny, Creative Tourist and Huffington Post, among others.