Vanessa Feltz’s comments about coeliac disease on This Morning have received more than a thousand additional complaints, raising the total to over 2,000.
The TV presenter said a caller’s mother-in-law not allowing them to bring their own food to a gluten-free Christmas dinner was “completely unreasonable”, during an episode of the ITV show on December 18.
The remarks initially received 1,092 complaints, according to an Ofcom report released on December 20, making it the ninth most-complained about programme in 2023.
The media watchdog said in its report on January 3 that a further 1,177 complaints have been made, bringing the total to 2,269.
This raised the programme to the fifth most-complained about last year, just behind a discussion on the junior doctors’ pay dispute on Channel 5’s Jeremy Vine show which came in fourth with 2,302 complaints.
Ofcom confirmed it is still assessing the complaints before deciding whether to investigate.
During the This Morning segment, Feltz said the caller asked their mother-in-law whether they could bring their own food to the Christmas meal, which was going to be gluten-free due to a guest having coeliac disease.
In response to the caller being told not to bring anything, Feltz said: “So she’s treating coeliac disease as if it’s a potentially fatal peanut allergy and they can’t have anything with gluten in the house which is completely unreasonable.”
Feltz, 61, later apologised on her TalkTV show for the comments, saying “if anyone misunderstood or felt that I did, I am very sorry”.
On her show, she showed a clip of herself making the remarks before discussing them with Dr Saleyha Ahsan and a viewer named Jason, who suffers from coeliac disease.
Feltz recalled: “I said what I said there, and then I said, but I’ve been thinking about it, and in the spirit of Christmas I think you should go, I think you should eat the gluten-free meal that your mother-in-law is kindly preparing.”
Feltz continued: “I did not, nor would I for a second, suggest that they should put the coeliac guest at risk in any way, nor did I suggest that they bring their own food and shove it in their mother-in-law’s oven or put it on the table, I wouldn’t dream of that.
“And nor did I intend in any shape of form to show any disrespect or misunderstanding of how unpleasant it can be leading your life as a coeliac, partly because some of my best friends are coeliacs…
“So I know how horrible it is as a coeliac if, by any mistake, you should find yourself eating something with gluten in it.
“I am astounded by the reaction and horrified that anyone’s upset, I would never want to upset anyone.”
She claimed she checked her language before and after the show with professionals, adding: “I don’t think I said anything wrong, but if anyone misunderstood or felt that I did, I am very sorry.”
In an episode on December 19, This Morning followed up the segment by discussing coeliac disease and cross-contamination further.
This programme also received 92 complaints relating to Dr Zoe’s comments about the topic, according to Ofcom.
Gluten-free food writer Becky Excell also appeared on the ITV show in the lead-up to Christmas to discuss gluten-free meal options.