Vanessa Feltz coeliac comments rise up ranks of most complained-about moments of 2023

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Vanessa Feltz’s December appearance on This Morning is now among the top five most complained-about television moments in 2023, after her “ignorant” comments received more than 2,000 viewer complaints. In response to the caller being told not to bring anything to the dinner party, Feltz said: “So she’s treating coeliac disease as if it’s a potentially fatal peanut allergy and they can’t have anything with gluten in the house which is completely unreasonable.” Coeliac disease, which affects one in every 100 people in the UK, is a condition where a person’s immune system attacks their own tissues when they consume gluten, a protein present in foods such as wheat, barley, and rye. Plan auto-renews until cancelled Try for free Feltz recalled: “I said what I said there, and then I said, but I’ve been thinking about it, and in the spirit of Christmas I think you should go, I think you should eat the gluten-free meal that your mother-in-law is kindly preparing.” Feltz continued: “I did not, nor would I for a second, suggest that they should put the coeliac guest at risk in any way, nor did I suggest that they bring their own food and shove it in their mother-in-law’s oven or put it on the table, I wouldn’t dream of that. “I am astounded by the reaction and horrified that anyone’s upset, I would never want to upset anyone.” She claimed she checked her language before and after the show with professionals, adding: “I don’t think I said anything wrong, but if anyone misunderstood or felt that I did, I am very sorry.” In an episode on 19 December, This Morning followed up the segment by discussing coeliac disease and cross-contamination further.