- Film And TV
- 03 Sep 19
TV host vs DUP politician
This morning saw Good Morning Britain's Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid discuss the appearance of same-sex couples on the show Strictly Come Dancing with DUP politician Jim Wells. As you might expect, it didn't go smoothly.
Wells suggested that seeing same-sex couples on the show would be "challenging", stating: "It's family viewing. You have had a busy week, you sit down with the family and you watch pure entertainment. The last thing you want is to be challenged or to be asked deep intellectual questions."
Morgan and Reid then digged deeper and asked the politician what would be challenging about same-sex couples. "What's challenging is if you have the family, young children with you... they'll be asking why are the two men or two women dancing together", he answered.
When Morgan and Reid hit back with the argument that there are children who have two fathers or two mothers, Wells just responds: "Obviously that's a situation I have no control over."
But the discussion doesn't end there. Morgan then asked: "Gay people dancing, that's somehow not entertaining, that's offensive to you?", to which the DUP politician replied with a comparison to the show Blind Date, that - in Wells' words - made the "radical change" to have homosexual couples on and thus "went down the plughole".
After Wells explains that he found that move to be radical because the show was on before 9pm, Morgan provokingly asks: "What time would you allow gay people to be seen on television?"
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The Irish politician went on to claim that the TV host is insulting him. "I'm not insulting you. I'm insulting your bigotry, which is irrational, inconsistent, makes no sense whatsoever, your favourite shows have loads of gay presenters on, there's a gay judge on Strictly, you think that's fine but you won't have two people - who may not even be gay - dancing together", Morgan declares.
When Wells asked him if the broadcaster is meant to be impartial for the interview, Morgan states: "How can you be impartial about homosexuality?"
Piers and Susanna challenge former DUP Health Minister Jim Wells, who says he will refuse to watch Strictly Come Dancing in case he sees same-sex couples dancing.@piersmorgan | @susannareid100 | #GMB pic.twitter.com/Wc7lYLsIba
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) September 3, 2019
Last week, the BBC announced that they are open for same-sex couples to join the Strictly Come Dancing competition.