Recent episodes of the self-titled Channel 5 show hosted by Vanessa Feltz have come in for nearly 2,000 complaints to Ofcom, it has been revealed.
The TV watchdog has confirmed programming that aired on Tuesday June 10 and Friday June 13 received a huge 1,856 and 130 complaints respectively.
Furthermore, according to reports, Ofcom has also confirmed the complaints from the June 10 episode related to a discussion on breastfeeding and its associated benefits, which some viewers are said to have found ‘misleading’.
Vanessa Feltz chatted with guests about breastfeeding on her Channel 5 show last week (Credit: YouTube)
Vanessa Feltz’s show hit with thousands of Ofcom complaints
During the Tuesday lunchtime show, Vanessa and her guests discussed the merits of breastfeeding, and when a woman should stop. It came after a clip went viral on social media that showed a mother breastfeeding her three-year-old child.
It becomes an addiction and an addiction for that child too because they only know the boob.
Airing her views on the show, designer Karen Millen shared: “There’s no benefit, is there, for a child to be breastfed beyond six months really. I think it’s quite a selfish thing on the mother’s part.”
She then added: “I just think that’s not good emotionally for that child. I mean, what does that child do later in life? The attachment – like you say it becomes an addiction and an addiction for that child too because they only know the boob. It’s just not normal, is it? I’m sorry, I find it very weird.”
Karen’s apology
Following the show, an apology aired. Karen insisted in her address that she’d been asked about a three-year-old child being breastfed. And so, her “thoughts [were] on that and my answers reflected that, not the subject of breastfeeding”.
She added: “I know I’ve upset a lot of your viewers and that was not my intention. I have three children and I breastfed all three of them up to six or seven months… I think my issue was more on the fact as a baby breast milk is the best and beyond being a baby, growing into toddler, I just found it more difficult to comes to term with how it would benefit a three year old.
“And as a woman to women, I do respect your choices and I do want to support you,” she added.
‘It continues to spread misinformation’
However, going by social media user remarks, the apology did little to appease viewers.
“This really isn’t a full apology and it continues to spread misinformation,” one Instagram user fumed.
“The ‘apology’ doesn’t even apologise for what she said,” claimed someone else.
And a third person seethed: “When discussing topics like this on TV, it would be beneficial to also have an expert in infant feeding available.”
Ofcom responds
A representative for the broadcasting watchdog confirmed the complainants from the episode which aired on June 10 related to a discussion on breastfeeding and its benefits, which some felt was misleading.
The complaints from the show which broadcast on June 13 related to a follow-up segment on breastfeeding, which included what some complainants felt was a “weak” apology regarding the show’s previous segment earlier in the week.
ED! has approached a representative for Vanessa Feltz for comment.
Vanessa on Channel 5
The Ofcom complaints come a few weeks after tabloid claims TV bosses were ‘in crisis talks’ about the future of Vanessa’s show just a couple of months after it was launched.
The Sun reported in May that a revamp might already have been on the cards.
An unnamed source was quoted as saying: “The future of Vanessa’s show is very much uncertain for the time being.
“Bosses have been locked in crisis talks. They have been planning ways to immediately revamp the programme if there is to be a chance that it could be saved.”
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