Russian propaganda is using Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby’s ‘Spin to Win’ wheel to get a This Morning viewer’s energy bills paid as a morale-boosting victory for their tactic of shutting off the West’s energy supply.
The Kremlin has closed gas pipelines into Europe, in apparent retaliation for unprecedented sanctions imposed in the wake of the Ukrainian invasion .
Now the Russian propaganda machine looks like it is revelling in British people’s struggles to pay soaring bills with the ITV competition - criticised as “Dystopian”- appearing on state-sponsored TV.
The screenshot featuring a Russian newsreader was shared by BBC journalist Francis Scarr who “watches Russian state TV so you don’t have to”.
https://t.co/FgShF4iSnD pic.twitter.com/as8H3VEJVQ
— Francis Scarr (@francis_scarr) September 6, 2022
The show, with Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, offered viewers the chance to win cash prizes such as £1,000 or £3,000 with the presenters spinning a wheel of prizes in the show’s popular ‘Spin to Win’ segment.
However, on Monday, the segment featured the chance to win energy bills paid for four months, which some viewers slammed as “dystopian” and “quite disturbing”.
Schofield said: “This week we’ve got our usual cash prizes, but you could also win some extra cash to pay your energy bills until the end of the year. That’s four months of energy bills taken care of.”
Willoughby replied: “Wow, that’s very important right now.”
One caller who took part in the segment said he was extremely “worried” about the cost of energy bills, saying: “I’ve got one of these prepayment meters and it’s absolutely murder.”
After the wheel landed on energy bills, the viewer replied: “Oh my God, fantastic, what a relief, thank you very much”.
Since the war began, European Union customers have pledged to reduce their reliance on Russian energy while Russia has cut or shut down supplies on three of its biggest westward gas pipelines while oil supplies have been redirected eastwards.
Lower gas flows have already pushed up European prices by nearly 400 per cent over the past year, sending electricity costs soaring and leading to accusations that Russia is weaponizing energy supplies. Moscow blames Western sanctions and technical issues for supply disruptions.
