Katie Hopkins Cut Down To Size On The Big Benefits Row Live

Katie Hopkins Cut Down To Size On The Big Benefits Row Live
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Channel 5

Aspiring panto villain Katie Hopkins was left licking her wounds after a savaging by fellow panelists including Annabel Giles on Channel 5's The Big Benefits Row Live.

True to its name, the show descended into a eardrum-punishing slanging match presided over by an increasingly ineffectual Matthew Wright, with both panelists and audience members reserving their best shots for the vilified Hopkins.

Audience member and ex-Big Brother housemate Terry Christian branded Hopkins, known for her inflammatory remarks regarding childcare and welfare, a 'rent-a-gob' whose controversial opinions were nothing more than a money grab.

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Channel 5

Annabel Giles bit back after being labelled 'a model that didn't make it' by loudmouth Hopkins.

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The ex Max Factor model quipped: "You'd be really dangerous if you knew what you were talking about," in reference to Hopkins' remarks on benefits claimants.

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Hopkins also chastised Giles for claiming benefits after having a baby and at one point barked "Left wing loons!", suggesting she is modelling herself after American right-wing demagogue and troll-for-hire Ann Coulter.

The former Apprentice contestant also clashed with 'White Dee', the matriarch at the centre of Channel 4's controversial documentary series Benefits Street. Despite a pre-show poll showing two-thirds of respondents believe the welfare system is 'unfit for purpose', it was Dee who won over the studio audience, who applauded her defence of benefits claimants at several points.

While Hopkins resorted to hyperbole and personal jibes, for which she was ticked off by host Wright, Dee remained calm in the face of anti-welfare vitriol from the conservative panelists, saying: "Every individual is different and every circumstance is different."

The Independent praised 'White Dee' (real name Deirdre Kelly) for her 'composed, articulate' live TV debut. It pronounced a far harsher judgement on Hopkins' 'misinformed views' and 'non-stop barrage of immature tempers'.