GMB fans slam Richard Madeley for ‘unsympathetic’ interview with mum who lost her daughter
GOOD Morning Britain fans took a swipe at anchor Richard Madeley for an "unsympathetic" interview with a grieving mother.
The ITV presenter, 67, was called out for a comment branded "so rude" by early-morning viewers during the sensitive topic.
Richard is no stranger to a controversial moment on Good Morning Britain and Wednesday's episode was no different.
The presenter and co-star Susanna Reid, 53, were chatting to heartbroken parent Erin Gibson, 44, whose daughter Morgan Ribeiro, 20, died following weight loss surgery in Turkey in January.
The interview began with a photo montage of Morgan, a keen singer, who was incessantly bullied at school for her weight.
As Erin became upset at the snaps, Richard awkwardly said: "Are you OK?
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"Well you wanted us to play, it so we did."
He then continued with the chat, in which Erin pleaded for people not to go for surgery abroad, yet some fans couldn't get over his initial comment.
One took to X to write: "Richard Madeley should be nowhere near interviews that require any empathy or sympathy!"
A second put: "He is so rude," as a third urged: "Christ Richard show some empathy 'are you alright', 'well no', 'ok well you wanted us to show the video!'"
A third then ranted: "'Well you wanted is to show it,'… move on. Nice Richard… very sympathetic."
One added: "The ladies daughter has recently died, Richard's first question…“are you alright?!?” WTF! lol!"
A viewer then wrote: "Followed by the 'well you wanted us to show it so we did,' I didn’t like the way he said that at all!"
Another concluded: "Jesus Madeley!….'you wanted this so suck it up!!'"
Erin detailed how Morgan suffered sepsis following her operation, and was sent home just days after the major surgery.
Talking about the lead up to Morgan's passing, the mum bravely said: "I know that she was carrying sepsis for days, it was undetected.
"That's the reason she lost her life.
"It's septic poisoning."
The Sun reported on Morgan's death earlier this year.
Morgan, from South London, went under the knife on January 5, after flying out the previous day.
Though she woke up in discomfort, medics told her she would be fine and gave her the green light to leave the clinic three days later, The Independent reported.
But Morgan fell seriously ill on her flight back to Gatwick Airport, forcing pilots to make an emergency landing in Serbia, where she was rushed to hospital.
She then went into septic shock and it was revealed that her small intestine had been cut during the gastric sleeve procedure, causing an infection.
Surgeons then removed 4in (10cm) of her small intestine, but Morgan suffered a heart attack on January 9 and was placed in a coma.
She passed away just four days later.
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Meanwhile, Richard is often called out for going "full-on Partridge" with his off-the-cuff comments on the early-morning show.
Yet he has since admitted he "doesn't care if he is cancelled" after breaking his silence on the Alan Partridge comparisons, centred on the comedy character played by Steve Coogan.
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