Coronation Street boss calls out Kate Garraway after she says a gay kiss is ‘shocking’
Kate Garraway is in hot water with fans after suggesting Coronation Street’s gay kisses were “shocking”.
The Good Morning Britain host was quizzing Corrie producer Kate Oates about “dark” storylines when she cited gay and lesbian kisses.
During the interview, Oates was quick to pull the presenter up after she listed EastEnders’ first gay kiss story as “shocking TV”.
Garraway said: “I suppose what parents might worry about is it feels like [Corrie] is getting more and more shocking. I remember – because I am very old – the first lesbian kiss on Brookside and the first gay man kiss on EastEnders.
“Now in tonight’s episode of Coronation Street we’re going to see the character David Platt drugged and sexually assaulted in a gay sexual assault.
“That feels like an exponential increase in the explicit nature of what’s going straight into family viewing living rooms. It will be very clear, won’t it, what’s going on for youngsters watching?”
Oates then appeared on screen via video link and was quick to call out the questionable remark.
She said: “I’ve got two points to address there really. First of all, you used a gay kiss as an example of shocking television and it’s really, really important that nobody thinks a gay kiss is shocking television.”
‘It’s so important to shine a light on these subjects’ – @itvcorrie’s Series Producer Kate Oates says soaps have an important role to play in tackling issues in society. pic.twitter.com/1Jo70eKmZV— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) March 16, 2018
Kate insisted that “it was [shocking] at the time”, the producer added: “Exactly, and now [a gay kiss] has been normalised – and quite rightly because to think that a gay kiss is shocking television is really, really disturbing.”
The incident is the second LGBT run-in for Garraway just this week.
Dancing on Ice judge Jason Gardiner lashed out at the TV presenter for comparing his on-screen criticism to homophobic bullying which he suffered growing up.
(Getty)
During his appearance on the ITV show, shown ahead of last Sunday’s final, Gardiner was questioned about his style of judging.
After Ben Shephard called him “evil” and “cruel,” Gardiner hit back, saying that his feedback of competitors like GMB’s Alex Beresford was “honest”.
(YouTube/good morning britain)
“Why are you so direct?” she asked Gardiner. “Because one of the interesting things about you is you’ve had tough times yourself.
“When you were at school, you were bullied, had a lot of problems coming to terms with your sexuality and how people treated you, so you know what it’s like to be picked on.”
(YouTube/good morning britain)
The reality show judge balked at this comment, looking shocked as he seemed to understand where Garraway was going with this line of questioning.
On Twitter after the show, the judge wrote: “Really touched by the support I am receiving after @GMB tried to brand me cruel, evil & bullying.
“None of the celebs who are paid to do @dancingonice feel mentally or physically harmed by my judging. I know the public gets it.
(Twitter/officialJasonG)
He added: “@kategarraway clearly has never been bullied.”
Later, he said: “Never have I bullied anyone especially because of my horrific past. Anyway she got what she wanted which is all this!”
(Twitter/officialJasonG)
Garraway responded the next day to defend herself.
She wrote on Twitter: “I’m mortified if @officialJasonG is upset by our “ panto style” fun on @GMB – completely unintended – we love him & his #DOI comments!!
“When I highlighted how sadly he’d been bullied as a child (real nastiness) it was to help him clarify how DIFFERENT his tough comments are – which he did brilliantly!
(Twitter/kategarraway)
