Richard Madeley clashed with an Insulate Britain campaigner on GMB but accidentally slipped up and called her “darling”.
The outspoken presenter asked activist Tracey Mallaghan if she would have remained glued to a motorway effectively blocking traffic if her own mother or daughter were suffering a stroke and needed to get to the hospital.
Richard, 65, was referring to a woman who is now paralysed and went into a coma as Insulate Britain prevented her son from getting her emergency medical care while she was having a stroke.
Instead of answering the question, Tracey evaded it and said that journalists are “asking the wrong questions” and that Richard must be “heartless and stupid”.
(Image: ITV)
She also said that she would have phoned an ambulance and added: “At the time I would have been furious and heartbroken but when you get home you have to look at the reality and you have three to four years to save the future of humanity.”
Richard pressed on with: “So you would allow your mother to have a near-fatal stroke?”
Tracey again did not answer but said her kids face an “unimaginable future” and said Richard was “too scared” to look at the reality.
(Image: ITV)
Seeing red, he called her “darling” but immediately apologised and said it was “a habit of mine” and a “showbiz thing” and sheepishly added: “I completely take that back”.
Tracey, who said she is on benefits and disabled, retaliated by calling him “sweetheart” and pointed out he had been told off for calling women darling before on air.
The discussion escalated and ended with Tracey on the verge of tears and Richard repeatedly pointing out she refused to properly answer his queries.
Insulate Britain plan to block the M25 today and have urged motorists to go no faster than 20mph.
As the show progressed, live footage of the M25 was shown and Richard pointed out that viewers were in agreement with him and that Tracey had “not done herself any favours” during their argument and had actually “scored a massive own goal”.
The people of Twitter seemed to agree with Richard.
(Image: ITV)
One posted: “We need to save the planet but if that was my mum in the ambulance, well I have a car trust me they would move or be laying on my bonnet as I just keep driving whether I hit them or not.”
Another said: “This woman had no intention of answering anything at all. You could see that from the beginning. Richard calling her darling, was literally accidental, due to her attitude he is forgiven. She was a pure shaking stress head, didn’t seem to understand logic. Protest safely.”
A third agreed with: “It’s important we know what kind of people we are dealing with. A hysteric, a zealot, borderline mental health case. Seemingly justifying the deaths of others. It’s ugly and unhinged.”
The protests on the M25 continue.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
