‘Good Morning Britain’ host Kate Garraway was forced to ask a guest to remove an offensive puppet from the show during a debate on Tuesday.
During the show, Kate and co-host Charlotte Hawkins were discussing the legacy of Punch and Judy, debating whether or not the puppet show should be updated to reflect modern times with puppeteer Bryan Llewellyn.
As Bryan discussed changing attitudes, he presented one of his puppets, which he said was of a “black singer”, but Kate was having none of it.
She told Bryan: “That is really offensive by the way, that puppet.”
“This has been a character since 1662,” Bryan said, by way of response. “You’re saying it’s a minstrel, I say it’s a black singer.”
Kate continued: “It came from conceptions at the time which we now feel are racist, and many people all the way through think it’s racist.
“Can I just say Bryan, it’s actually making me feel slightly uncomfortable you having it there if you don’t mind putting it down. I don’t think it’s right for us to have it on the show.”
Guest Trisha Goddard, who was also taking part in the discussion, added: “I don’t feel uncomfortable with it, it’s just I feel like black and white minstrels went a long time ago so I don’t even know why it’s there.”
This comes after a controversial couple of weeks for the ITV daytime show, largely thanks to its usual host Piers Morgan, who was recently accused of double-standards by some viewers, over the way he interviews anti-Trump guests compared to those who know and work with the US President.
‘Good Morning Britain’ airs every weekday from 6am on ITV.
