Gogglebox is pointless without Mary and Giles’ outdated politics-Adam Miller-Entertainment – Metro

They’re so out-of-place that they somehow feel so perfect for it (Channel 4)

After joining Gogglebox in 2015, Mary Killen and Giles Wood immediately became firm favourites with fans. 

I was one of them – this stiff-lipped, upper-class ‘hippy’ couple has a clear disdain for pretty much all television they’re forced to endure and are unlike anyone else on Gogglebox. They’re so out-of-place that they somehow feel so perfect for it.

They wince at pretty much everything they’re shown, including their hilarious horror at Naked Attraction.

For years, I was convinced they were liberal lefty academics, with a flair for dancing in fields and championing peace and love. 

I was sold on their fractious relationship, driven by the sort of bickering that can only come with couples who have lived together and been in love for decades.

And then it became clear that I – and so many other Gogglebox fans – had them wrong.

In my defence, they admitted to previously pretending to be lefties (like me) back in the 1990s. During an episode in 2024, Gogglebox stars reacted to two by-election defeats for the Tories to Labour.

Mary and Giles stunned fans again when the latter appeared to back Donald Trump (Picture: Channel 4)

Watching the results in their respective battered armchairs, Giles said: ‘Oh God, do you remember that? Labour victory, with all those Labour people crowing about their victory.’

Mary sighed: ‘But this is going to be even worse.’

Giles then candidly admitted: ‘And we pretended that we voted Labour… We thought we were going to be lynched.’ (Mary then proclaimed, ‘you pretended!’)

Considering their comments came during the peak hell of the previous Conservative government, which admittedly doesn’t feel much worse than the mess we’re in under this Labour one, Gogglebox fans were alarmed.

Then last month, Mary and Giles stunned fans again when the latter appeared to back Donald Trump after his row with Volodymyr Zelensky over the Ukrainian President’s suit (or lack of).

Giles also defended Vice President JD Vance from accusations he was raising his voice in the argument.

‘I don’t think he was speaking loudly,’ he told Mary, who teased: ‘We can see which side you’re on. You’re on the side of the wrong’uns!’

The final straw for viewers came last Friday though, when they mocked man-of-the-moment and national treasure-in-waiting Stephen Graham while discussing Adolescence, the Netflix series widely hailed as the most important television in years.

Mary dubbed him the ‘actor who always plays short northerners’.

Graham is one of the finest actors Britain has produced, his IMDB ranges from Al Capone in Boardwalk Empire to a violent boxer in A Thousand Blows, and even Matilda’s dad Mr Wormwood in the Netflix musical adaption of the Ronald Dahl classic.

If anyone has range, it’s Graham.

Mary’s comment came as Sir Keir Starmer announced Adolescence is going to be shown in schools across the UK to tackle misogyny and the increasing popularity of incel culture among young boys.

Sir Keir Starmer announced Adolescence is going to be shown in schools across the UK to tackle misogyny (Picture: Jack Taylor/Pool via REUTERS)

Created by Graham and Jack Thorne, it’s a rare moment when a televised drama really feels as though it could change the course of history.

Given the timing, there are few things that could have gone down worse with Gogglebox viewers, including backing Trump.

As a result of Mary’s poor jibe, fans of the show in droves have called to ‘get rid’ of the couple. And as someone who spends life determined to be surrounded by my echo chamber of friends, I sympathise.

I, too, can go from zero to 100 when someone shows a glimmer of support for a Tory or Trump because sitting on the fence is no longer an option. 

The world feels like it’s on the brink of collapse, life has never been bleaker, and I stand by blaming everything wrong with the world on right-wing politicians and their reckless greed.

It is unfathomable to me that anyone could have lived through the last 14 years of Conservative rule and have an ounce of sympathy for the Tory Party.

I get the disappointment in Mary and Giles because I felt it too. But unfortunately, Gogglebox would be pointless without them.

Gogglebox reflects the mood of the nation. It’s a celebration of multicultural Britain and its multitude of values and takes on the week’s television.

I categorically disagree with every political statement I’ve heard from Mary and Giles but that’s exactly the point of Gogglebox. Yes, it’s a lol-a-minute but it’s also the best reflection of how Britain has been gripped by the weekly news.

Mary and Giles also raise a different self-confronting issue: can I like someone who doesn’t align with me politically? As long as they’re disguised as a Labour voter, it turns out I can.

Before I knew anything about their political leanings, I’d go as far as to say Mary and Giles were possibly my favourite Gogglebox couple – or at least up there with the greats like Sophie and Pete Sandiford, The Moffatt Family and Warner sisters.

They’re up there with the greats like Sophie and Pete Sandiford, The Moffatt Family (pictured) and Warner sisters (Picture: Channel 4/PLANET PHOTOS)

Should I no longer find their dry humour quirky ramblings spoken with the enthusiasm of John Major because they may have voted for him?

The thing is, I just do. They’re wonderfully strange creatures I’d miss if they left Gogglebox.

Gogglebox has always included right-wing views. Boozers Steph and Dom had a ball wining and dining with Nigel Farage for a TV special in 2014, while Andrew Michael stood as a UKIP candidate before he died in 2021, but neither seemed to be met with the same vitriol by Gogglebox fans.

Perhaps it feels more disappointing to have a couple less clearly Conservative turn out to seemingly be sympathetic to Trump, but still, it feels essential to have them there alongside the liberal lefties. 

There are no villains in Gogglebox, that’s part of its charm.

Everyone is brilliant in their own way – whether they voted for Boris Johnson or they worship at the altar of ‘wokeism’, they’re extraordinary ordinary folk who all bring something so unique and special to what on paper is a woefully boring concept.

They give a show that follows everyday people watching TV its life, the eclectic mix of characters keeping it just as popular now as when it began 12 years ago.

Gogglebox airs Fridays at 9pm on Channel 4.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing Ross.Mccafferty@metro.co.uk. 

Share your views in the comments below.

Entertainment – MetroRead More