2024 has had its fair share of controversial TV moments, but now we know which ones received the most Ofcom complaints.
It’s no surprise that TV shows such as Good Morning Britain, Love Island and Big Brother are on it. But even the likes of ITV’s Emmerdale made it onto the list year.
Ofcom has revealed this year it has received more than 60,000 complaints. But from all of them, only 40 actually related to something that broke the regulator’s rules.
It’s important to note BBC shows don’t appear on the list because the corporation deals with its own complaints, so the Top 10 is dominated by ITV. So, starting at the bottom, here are the top 10 most complained about TV moments of 2024.
10. Big Brother T-shirt complaint
In at number 10 was an episode of Big Brother where winner Ali Bromley wore a top featuring a map of Israel and Palestine as a watermelon. More than 500 complaints were sent to Ofcom over the pro-Palestine T-shirt.
Ofcom said: “The majority of complaints were about imagery on a contestant’s clothing. Taking into account, among other things, that the prominence and duration of the image was limited, it was consistent with the individual’s right to personal expression. It did not represent affiliation to a terrorist organisation. We did not find grounds to pursue further.”
Nick Ferrari received complaints over his nut allergy comments (Credit: ITV)
9. This Morning nut allergies
Back in May, frequent This Morning contributor Nick Ferrari was heavily criticised online after his comments regarding nut allergies.
There have been many cases of celebs speaking out about the danger of eating nuts on a plane, especially as more and more face life threatening incidents.
But at the time Nick said: “If you don’t like peanuts then don’t get on a plane because I do. And I can’t eat them because someone at the back of the plane is going to drop dead or something.”
In response to this, Ofcom revealed there were many complaints sent in. But the regulator “took into account that the comments were made in response to a hypothetical scenario by a media personality well-known for his provocative opinions”. Ofcom also “noted” that Nick apologised the following day.
Ofcom complaints poured in over Susanna Reid and Nigel Farage’s debate (Credit: ITV)
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