Cat Deeley Apologises To This Morning Viewers After Seizure Joke Sparks Backlash
This Morning host Cat Deeley has apologised after making a joke about seizures during a live show earlier this week.
On Monday morning, the ITV daytime show returned from an ad break, during which Cat could be seen dancing next to her co-presenter Ben Shephard.
“Nothing to see here,” she insisted. “I’m fine, just having a seizure.”
The host’s remarks were met with a backlash online, including from the Epilepsy Society, who wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that seizures are “no laughing matter for people with epilepsy”.
“People in influential positions must do better and educate themselves about this difficult and poorly understood condition,” they insisted.
Seizures are no laughing matter for people with #epilepsy@catdeeley.
Please do better and educated yourselves about this difficult and poorly understood condition, @thismorning 💜 pic.twitter.com/txEOo0zeyC— Epilepsy Society (@epilepsysociety) June 17, 2024
Seizures are no laughing matter for people with epilepsy. People in influential positions must do better and educate themselves about this difficult and poorly understood condition.
You can read the full story here: https://t.co/NUcLAyFOf8@catdeeley@metroUK@thismorningpic.twitter.com/v2uSNyTUou— Epilepsy Society (@epilepsysociety) June 17, 2024
The following day, Cat began the live show by apologising to “anyone who was offended yesterday when I made a light-hearted comment about my dancing style”.
“It really wasn’t supposed to cause any upset to anybody,” Cat continued, adding: “But I can see why that might have been the case. So I do apologise, I’m very sorry. It didn’t come from [a bad] place at all.”
Cat Deeley apologises for her comments yesterday.
I feel like she was trying not to laugh while saying sorry pic.twitter.com/iE9n65FKd0— Ryan (@breakingryan1) June 18, 2024
Cat and Ben took over as This Morning’s main anchors earlier this year, presenting their first show together in March.
Prior to that, This Morning had been without permanent presenters during the week since the much-publicised departures of Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby last year.
Of the two, Phillip was the first to go, stepping down in May 2023 amid widespread reports of a fall-out with his co-presenter.
A week later, he resigned from ITV altogether after admitting to having lied to bosses about an affair with a much younger colleague at the daytime show.
Holly subsequently took an extended break from This Morning, and returned in the summer, only to leave for good in October following an alleged plot to kidnap her.
