Piers Morgan has certainly put the cat among the pigeons this time and disapproving fans are holding him to account for his own controversial views.
Fans of the 56-year-old former Good Morning Britain host, think he may have overstepped the mark when he branded Simone Biles’ Olympics withdrawal reason as “a joke” on Twitter.
Gymnast and four-times gold medalist Simone, announced that she was opting out from the rest of the Tokyo competition to focus on her own mental health.
The 24-year-old issued a statement soon after receiving her lowest ever score of 13.766nn
She said: “After the performance I did, I just didn’t want to go on.
(Image: ITV)
“I have to focus on my mental health. I just think mental health is more prevalent in sports right now.
“We have to protect our minds and our bodies and not just go out and do what the world wants us to do.”
Simone, who has endured a hugely successful career and bagged herself 30 Olympic and World Championship medals explained: “I don’t trust myself as much anymore.
“There were a couple of days when everybody tweets you and you feel the weight of the world.
(Image: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
“We’re not just athletes. We’re people at the end of the day and sometimes you just have to step back.
“I didn’t want to go out and do something stupid and get hurt. I feel like a lot of athletes speaking up has really helped.
“It’s so big, it’s the Olympic Games. At the end of the day we don’t want to be carried out of there on a stretcher.”
After her statement hit the headlines, questioning Piers couldn’t resist airing his own views on the very subject.
(Image: Sergei Bobylev/TASS)
Taking to his online platform he asked his 7.9 million followers: “Are ‘mental health issues’ now the go-to excuse for any poor performance in elite sport? What a joke.
“Just admit you did badly, made mistakes, and will strive to do better next time.
“Kids need strong role models not this nonsense.”
Soon after the post landed, his comments section was brimming with angry online users.
“Omg… did you actually just say people are using mental health as an excuse for poor performance? You’re unbelievable,” fumed one.
“Chill on this my guy, we never know what people are going through, mentally,” vented another.
While Loose Women star Denise Welch was absolutely outraged and took to her own Instagram account to slam the former ITV presenter.
Flagging up Piers’ tweet, she finished her lengthy post with a hard hitting statement which read: “I hope no tv companies employ him if they ever intend to have a voice on mental health. Shocking.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
