Eamonn Holmes slams Celebrity Gogglebox for 'idiotic and cruel edit' over discussion of father's death

ITV star Eamonn Holmes hit out at the popular Channel 4 show
Rex Features
Ewan Somerville6 June 2020
The Weekender

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Eamonn Holmes has slammed the producers of Celebrity Gogglebox for “idiotic and cruel” editing to show him laughing instead of anguishing over his father’s death.

The ITV star said he was “hurt beyond belief” by the “atrocious editing” while he was watching BBC One’s Ambulance programme, which depicts the work of paramedics.

The 60-year-old was seen comically reacting to a nail-biting moment in the show alongside This Morning co-host Ruth Langsford instead of candidly discussing his father’s sudden passing.

In a string of tweets "liked" thousands of times, he wrote: “I am hurt beyond belief that @C4Gogglebox chose not to use me talking about my father dying from a heart attack at the side of a road and replace it with a funny story following a young lad giving his Father CPR. Idiotic and cruel edit.

“So following a tragedy that has forever haunted my family, I am in no mood for criticising holier than thou mouthpieces on here who haven't gone through what we did.

"I had nothing but praise and emotion for the Ambulance control room TV programme. An atrocious edit.

“How my father died was a particularly horrible experience for my mother, my younger brother and his friend who were all in the car.

“The resuscitation in The BBC Ambulance programme was as close as could be to my Dad's passing. Yet I am the one edited to make it look like a laugh.”

His scathing attack of the programme came after viewers took to Twitter accusing him of being “insensitive”.

One wrote: “@EamonnHolmes comparing taking Ruth to hospital to have a baby - with a 10 year old lad doing chest compressions on his dad that's just had a heart attack - is beyond belief!”

But Mr Holmes fired back: “For the mob Trending on Twitter, I hope you are big enough, on knowing the true story, to delete your Hate or issue a correction.”

A spokesperson for Gogglebox said: "We have apologised to Eamonn over what happened in this week’s episode. We understand and respect Eamonn’s feelings on such a deeply personal story.

"We have taken the decision to edit the episode for future repeats and All 4. We look forward to working with Eamonn and Ruth for the rest of the series."

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