Richard Madeley told his Good Morning Britain colleagues to 'clean up your act' after one of his comments were taken out of context. It also came after Susanna Reid expressed her concerns that she'd have to defend the show against Ofcom complaints when things got a bit explicit in the studio.
Richard and Susanna were back at the helm of the ITV news programme on Wednesday (February 1) when they fronted a debate on swearing at work. They were asked whether turning the air blue should be banned in the workplace. It comes after a work tribunal where the claimant was told by the judge that the F-word was now commonplace in the workplace.
When they had earlier discussed the story with regular panelists Kevin Maguire and Andrew Pierce, both insisted they would never swear in front of their parents. Andrew said: "You wouldn't use that word. You wouldn't use it on TV anyway - whether it was the Ofcom rules or not. Because it is just decency and respect."
Kevin then added: "I would never swear in front of my mum. Never ever ever," to which Andrew replied: "Or my Dad, actually." Kevin said: "No, I would have got a clip..." But a laughing Susanna then reminded them: "You both swore in front of millions of people, what are you talking about?"
Andrew then joked: "Matt Hancock deserved it,” after Susanna had been forced to apologise late last year after he was labelled the former health secretary a 'd***head' live on air amid his appearance on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here.
Later, during the actual debate on the matter, Richard and Susanna were joined by journalist Flora Gill and lawyer Paul Britton. Richard said: "There's a difference between context - using it as an offensive attack on somebody, or using it as commentary," to which Flora replied: "Context is massively important. It matters a lot - there are 100 words I'd use to describe something, but still be rude to my boss or you or a colleague. Saying 'eff off' or 'you effing whatever'."
But Richard was then left to warn: "Ah we're being told you can't actually say that. I have to tell you, you can't actually say that... OK... just to clear that up..." as Susanna said: "A warning from Ofcom." She then later joked that a halo should be appearing above her head as she keeps the show on the straight and narrow and defends the show against any possible investigation from the broadcasting watchdog.
And despite his own slip-ups during his time on the show, Richard was quick to tell off his colleagues when they crossed over to Lorraine Kelly for their usual tease of what's to come on her self-titled ITV show. Before that, however, Richard spoke to Lorraine about the 40th anniversary of TV-am which Susanna said was "the reason we are all here."
As throwbacks of Lorraine on the former morning programme, which rand from 1983 until 1992, appeared on-screen, Richard asked: "How long have you been on this game then?" which left Susanna letting out a gasp and raising her eyebrows. "You know what I'm saying," Richard hit back.
"For god's sake everybody, clean up your act!" Lorraine, however, kept it professional as she confirmed that next year, in 2024, she'll be celebrating 40 years in the business. "I started when I was two-and-a-half, obviously," as they moved on from Richard's accidental blunder.
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