Good Morning Britain’s Ranvir Singh apologised to a guest appearing on the Tuesday’s show to discuss her eating disorder, after she used an awkward “flesh and bones” analogy in her first question.
The host, 44, made the awkward analogy at the beginning of an interview with influencer Lauren Black and the producer of the new BBC Three documentary The Instagram Effect, which looks at how the app has affected its users.
In the new documentary, Lauren speaks candidly about how Instagram fuelled her eating disorder as she gained more than 100,000 followers on the platform.
Opening the discussion and standing in for Susanna Reid, Ranvir said: “What did you discover in the making of this documentary that we didn’t already know, or what flesh were you about to put on those bones?”
She then quickly added: “Sorry about the analogy there, considering we’re talking about eating disorders, that was an accidental term, but you know what I’m saying though - what did you discover?”
Guests Lauren and documentary producer Cristina Criddle did not respond to Ranvir’s faux pas, with Cristina stepping in to answer the question.
She said: “We spoke to insiders at Instagram and I think what we were trying to do with the film was to explain how Instagram can lead you down harmful paths.”
Later in the discussion, Lauren opened up about the harmful impact Instagram had on her during her five years as a fashion and beauty content creator on the platform before she entered recovery for an eating disorder a year and a half ago.
“I subconsciously didn’t realise the effect that Instagram was having on my mental health,” she said. “Obviously it was my job, so I was looking at myself a lot more often than the average.”
Co-host Richard asked: “Specifically, how did it impact your day to day mental health?”
Lauren replied: “In terms of the content I was looking at, the images were all edited and I was comparing my body shape to other people’s body shapes and their lives to my life.”
She added: “I was already vulnerable - I already had an eating disorder and that stemmed from my life as a teenager. The thing is I didn’t really understand mental health when I was growing up. I didn’t realise I was so ill.”
When Lauren entered recovery she began to document the process on her platform to her followers.
Richard replied saying: “You see a series of images and then abandon a planned lunch - simply not have a meal. See the image, don’t eat. How do we fix it?”
Christina said: “That’s a really complicated issue. I think it’s a very novel problem. No one’s found the answer yet.”
This comes as Ranvir Singh has reportedly stepped down from her role as the Good Morning Britain Political Editor, but said she’s open to a "more substantial" role in the main studio.
An insider has shared that the TV star decided to wave goodbye to the job after growing fed up with early starts and standing outside No 10.
Revealing that ITV bosses are keen to keep her on board, the insider added: "Ranvir covers for Susanna Reid when she is away and this week has stepped into her shoes during half term. But she wants more and the bosses at GMB are clamouring to give it to her.”
"She is a hugely popular member of GMB and keeping Ranvir on board is something everyone wants."
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV.
