Viewers were furious by his comments.
Good Morning Britain viewers are outraged after host Richard Madeley seemed to “victim blame” a girl who appeared on the show to speak about getting spiked.
Richard and co-host Susanna Reid interviewed a girl who had been spiked in a nightclub after it emerged that girls had been injected while on nights out.
Jemma Wolstenholme and her mum appeared on the show and spoke about how a friend had taken care of Jemma and made sure she got home safe once she started feeling ill.
Richard then asked, upsetting viewers: “But had you been taking precautions?
“Had you, obviously you’re aware of the risk of drinks being spiked, had you been trying to protect your drink? Had you kept your hand over it? Had you kept it with you, do you remember that?”
Jemma responded: “Yeah, well it’s sort of second nature now because we have been told for so long that we should be careful who is near our drinks. So if I did leave it, it was left with my friend and it was “Watch my drink”.
“And we were sat at a table and it wasn’t particularly busy where we were sat, so it’s still a bit of a mystery as to how it happened, but you see people finding opportunities wherever they can and all it would have taken was one tiny distraction.”
Coming to her defence, Susanna jumped in saying: “Honestly Jemma, it’s not your responsibility to take the precautions to stop someone who does maliciously put something in your drink, I mean how on earth anybody is expected to constantly watch a drink I don’t know!”
Viewers were disgusted by Richard’s comments, accusing him of blaming the victim for what happened rather than the perpetrator.
One tweeted: “Of course Richard Madeley is having a go at the young girl who was spiked asking her “what precautions did you take? Did you watch your drink?” Susannah finally interrupts him and says it’s not her fault. Argh. #GMB.”
https://twitter.com/spookysach/status/1451118823847956480
Of course Richard Madeley is having a go at the young girl who was spiked asking her “what precautions did you take? Did you watch your drink?” 🙄
Susannah finally interrupts him and says it’s not her fault.
Argh. #GMB— @NowMrsMFL (jenbeattie84) on Threads (@nowMrsMFL) October 21, 2021
Woman gets spiked and @richardm56 decides to ask HER had she done everything to protect herself .. are you for real ??? How about stop spiking the women (and men) 🤔@GMB @susannareid100 steps in later on but can’t actually believe this 😡.. #gmb pic.twitter.com/ktbHZCahsN
— From Evija with Love (@EvijawithLove) October 21, 2021
Another said: “Horrible spiking stories on @GMB today. And what’s the first thing Richard Madeley asks a victim of drink spiking? “Did you watch your drink the whole time to ensure it was safe?”
“YES RICHARD ONCE AGAIN LET’S ENSURE THAT IT’S ON WOMEN TO ENSURE THESE THINGS DON’T HAPPEN.”
A third said: “Seeing these clips of richard madeley saying “darling let me finish” to a woman on GMB and then victim blaming another who was spiked??? I am SO TIRED of being a woman in this world.”
