Good Morning Britain Ofcom complaints over ITV presenters soar to over 16,000-Josie Copson and Pierra Willix-Entertainment – Metro

A Good Morning Britain star has announced he is taking a break from the show (Picture: ITV)

Good Morning Britain has received over 16,000 complaints regarding an episode presented by Ed Balls and Kate Garraway on August 5.

During the ITV breakfast programme, Balls interviewed his wife, home secretary Yvette Cooper.

While some of the complaints were related to the couple’s exchange, others were in response to Ed and Kate’s interview with Labour MP Zarah Sultana.

During the heated interview, Sultana said it was important that the government labelled the UK riots and violent disorder across the country as ‘Islamophobic’ as well as racist.

Balls was criticised for the interview with some viewers saying they were ‘disgusted’ and ‘uncomfortable’ watching the interaction.

After her appearance on the programme, Sultana also wrote on social media: ‘The sneering contempt of “journalists” will never stop me from calling out racism and Islamophobic hate.’

He presented the ITV breakfast programme with Kate Garraway last week (Picture: Ed Balls/ Instagram)

After the episode, 8,201 initially complained, with a further 8,419 contacting Ofcom the following week, and 163 contacting the watchdog organisation between 13 and 19 August, meaning the total is now 16,783.

A spokesperson for Ofcom said: ‘We are assessing the complaints against our broadcasting rules but are yet to decide whether or not to investigate.’

Viewers have questioned whether their marital relationship had an impact on the interview, and as well as taking their grievances to Ofcom, they also expressed their thoughts on social media.

‘I happen to like both Ed Balls and Yvette Cooper but they shouldn’t be interviewing each other about serious public policy issues on national television,’ added Duncan Flynn on X.

Others called the interview ‘ridiculous’, ‘insane’ and a ‘stupid editorial decision’.

Some believed that this was part of a bigger issue and that Balls should step away from GMB.

Ed and Cooper have been married for nearly three decades (Picture: Mike Marsland/ WireImage)

Cooper was on GMB to discuss the riots (Picture: Christopher Furlong/ Getty Images)

‘Now that Yvette Cooper is now a government minister (Home Secretary),@GMB should 100% stand Ed Balls (her husband) down. That’s a massive conflict of interest. @GMB @ITV …do what is right and resolve this issue immediately,’ typed account Mr Smooth EMT.

Mark Oosterveen expressed concerns Balls varied his interview tactics: ‘This morning, Ed Balls interviewed a Muslim MP, interrupting her and disputing everything. He then had the Home Secretary Yvette Cooper on and gave her the softest interview you could imagine. Balls and Cooper are husband and wife by the way. This is part of the problem.’

The complaints led to a response from the show. A spokesperson said: ‘Following a weekend of rioting and national unrest, GMB featured a range of interviews and discussion around this national emergency on today’s programme which included James Cleverly, shadow home secretary, and Yvette Cooper, home secretary.

His ability to remain neutral was questioned by viewers (Picture: ITV/ GMB)

‘We are satisfied that these interviews were balanced, fair and duly impartial.’

‘There kind of isn’t really a defence for this though is there,’ said Elle Hunt in response to ITV’s statement.

Metro.co.uk has contacted ITV for further comment in light of the increasing amount of Ofcom complaints.

At the start of the aforementioned episode, Sultana also spoke on the current violence and shared why it was so important that the attacks were called Islamophobic amongst other issues.

Balls repeatedly asked Sultana if she believed immigration should be controlled, sometimes interrupting her. He then said Prime Minister Keir Stermer and Cooper, have condemned the attacks on mosques and racism.

‘I don’t know if they’ve used the term Islamophobia,’ he added. ‘They haven’t,’ Sultana interjected.

Sultana was also interviewed in the same episode (Picture: ITV/GMB)

Ed was asked by Kate how much he’d been able to speak to Yvette about the situation before the interview, he explained it had been minimal due to her busy schedule.

Once the interview was underway, Balls said: ‘Can I ask, because we’ve talked about this a few times in the last few days – like many of our viewers will have done at home since those terrible killings in Southport – there have been identifiable individuals on social media who have been inciting not just riots but violence.’

He then asked if social media companies, the police, and the government need to do more to stop the use of racist language and falsehoods.

‘Well you’re right, Ed,’ she responded. ‘We have seen things appearing online that are clearly criminal. Social media has put rocket boosters under far-right extremist organisations and also some of the violence we have seen. Things that are criminal offline are also criminal online.’

Balls and Cooper married in 1998 and have three children together.

This is Cooper’s first time in government for 14 years, having been part of the Opposition while the Conservatives were in charge.

Ed Balls is taking a few weeks off during summer (Picture: Instagram/ edballs)

On August 13, Balls announced he was taking a break from the show.

The former Labour politician is a regular on the show after first joining the programme three years ago.

He is one of several rotating hosts to have presented ITV’s breakfast show in recent years, along with Richard Madeley, Adil Ray and Robert Rinder, following the departure of Piers Morgan.

However, he’s now revealed he won’t be seen on the show for a little while as he takes a summer break.

Posting a photo holding a pavlova on Instagram, he wrote: ‘What better way to celebrate the start of summer holidays than with a pavlova – our family favourite – loved working with Kate last week during such national turbulent times. I’m back with Susanna at the beginning of September when schools and Parliament return – see you soon ❤️’

Balls, 57, also posted a selfie smiling alongside his co-host Garraway, taken the week before.

Although some wished him well before his time off, many others referenced his recent interviews which saw him come under fire.

Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV.

The original article about Ed Balls’ Good Morning Britain interviews sparking Ofcom complaints was published on August 6.

Metro.co.uk has contacted Kate Garraway and Ed Ball’s representatives for comment.

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