Featured Image Credit: ITV
Topics: UK News, World News, Richard Madeley, ITV, Good Morning Britain, Twitter
Tom Wood
Topics: UK News, World News, Richard Madeley, ITV, Good Morning Britain, Twitter
People have been calling for Richard Madeley to lose his job hosting Good Morning Britain after he asked an ‘insensitive’ question to a Palestinian guest.
The 67-year-old TV presenter was interviewing Ahmed Alnaouq, who lost 21 members of his family after an Israeli airstrike, on the show on Wednesday morning (1 November).
In a bizarre moment, Madeley asked the man if he was ‘close’ to his family – specifically his brothers - that had been killed.
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Viewers of the show were quick to head to X – formerly known as Twitter – to vent their frustration towards the presenter, with many asking ITV to kick him off the air.
One person said: “Can Richard Madeley just be removed from this show now!
“Ahmed explaining he lost 21 of his family members in Gaza and Richard asks ‘how close were you to your brothers’ what part of that question is acceptable?”
Another person wrote: “Richard Madeley and his insensitive and ridiculous questions, yet again.
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“Embarrassing!”
A third person commented: “Can someone tell this idiot, Richard Madeley, we are all in pain just by watching what’s happening in this war, and we don’t even know these people.
"How dare he ask someone who lost many of his family if he is close to them? WTAF.
“GMB must sack this offensive man straightaway.”
Ahmed appeared on the show to bravely talk about how he lost his father, three sisters, two brothers, cousin, and 14 young nieces and nephews during the bombardment of Gaza.
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After hearing Ahmed’s story, Madeley said: “Let’s go through that slowly.
“How close were you to your brothers?”
To that strange question, Ahmed responded: “Very close. Very, very close.”
Madeley then followed up: “Were they older or younger than you?”
“One younger and one older,” Ahmed told him.
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Madeley then pressed: “And [they were] a big feature of your life?”
Ahmed said: “Of course. We grew up together.
“We lived all of our life together.”
This latest on-air gaffe comes just weeks after Madeley asked British-Palestinian MP Layla Moran if she had been made aware of Hamas’ attack on Israel before the war started on October 7.
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That also led to calls for him to be removed from the show.
Madeley later issued an apology, releasing a statement that read: “Richard is sorry that he has upset viewers with his question to Layla Moran.
“His intention was to understand the mood and atmosphere amongst the civilian population of Gaza immediately before the attacks.
“He asked Layla about her family in Gaza City because she had discussed speaking to them earlier in the interview.
“He did not mean to imply that she or her family might have had any prior knowledge of the attacks.”
Moran later spoke out to accept that apology, stating that Madeley’s question – while not malicious – came from a ‘place of ignorance’.
LADbible has contacted ITV and a representative for Richard Madeley for a comment.