Jason Gardiner appears to have extended an olive branch to Gemma Collins after she accused him of bullying her.
On Tuesday’s This Morning, Gemma was the topic of conversation when Jason was on the show, specifically her scheduled appearance on this weekend’s Dancing On Ice finale.
When she was referred to by her alter-ego The GC by hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield, Jason – who came to blows with the former TOWIE star during her time on the ITV ice skating show – played coy, commenting he thought that was the name of a “refrigerator”.
In response, Gemma accused Jason of “bullying”, telling him he’d been “very upsetting and hurtful”.
Now Jason has attempted to set the record straight as well as offering up something of an apology – and even a hug – during an appearance on Heart Breakfast.
Attempting to explain his “fridge” comment, Jason said: “It was really to do with ‘the GC’ part of it, because she has this alter ego – you know, self-proclaimed GC and it’s really interesting. And every time I hear it, it makes me think of a white goods appliance.
“I was trying to make light of it really and just have some levity with it because what I don’t like to do is constantly make this anything that it isn’t.”
When host Lucy Horobin checked that he was in no way suggesting there was a correlation between a refrigerator and Gemma’s size, Jason said: “Oh God no”.
He added: “If people are taking it that way, look I’m really sorry – it was just a way of just diffusing any tension and making light of the situation and the GC part of her persona.”
Yes, that was Jason Gardiner apologising, everyone.
He then added: “If she needs a hug, I’ll give her a hug.”
*Checks if hell has frozen over*
There’s still no official word on whether Gemma has pulled out of the Dancing On Ice final. HuffPost UK has contacted reps for the reality star but are still awaiting a response.
Earlier in the series, Gemma accused Jason of “selling stories” on her, after quotes from him were published in which he referred to her as “lazy”.
He was quick to shoot down her accusation, branding it “libellous” and “salacious”, while Gemma herself said she was compelled to speak out as she felt Jason had body-shamed her when he said we “weren’t going to get any big lifts” from her and skating partner Matt Evers.
Heart Breakfast with Jamie and Lucy, weekdays from 6am – 9am