Good Morning Britain host Ed Balls has come under fire from viewers for posing a "disgraceful" question to Rio Ferdinand, who appeared visibly irritated during Monday's programme.
The former England defender, aged 45, was on the ITV morning show to discuss a crucial mental health initiative he is championing. Ferdinand emphasised the significance of allowing young individuals to express their true emotions openly with parents, guardians, teachers, and friends as a means to maintain their mental well-being.
Yet, despite the focus on mental health, 57-year-old presenter Ed Balls shifted the conversation to football, which seemed to annoy both the viewers and Rio Ferdinand. During the discussion, Rio shared: "Even to this day, like yesterday my son was crying and I'm going: 'Stop crying' well that's the wrong message, it's like: 'Well what's wrong, tell me what your emotions are, how are you feeling, why are you crying' rather than saying 'stop crying' because you want a quiet and easy life as a parent, we all do."
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Ed Balls, 57, then asked: "Is your son crying because he's a Man Utd fan? " Susanna Reid, 53, was visibly shocked, while Rio added: "It's too early for that, Ed, come on! " The interview then started to talk about football rather than mental health, to which Rio quipped in frustration: "If I had known this was going to be the tone of the show, I don't know if I would have come on this early..." before answering another football question.
Taking to Twitter, viewers were quick to slam Ed for his question and the interview talking about football. One person said: "Rio Ferdinand trying to talk about kids mental health and Ed Balls switching the chat to football instead # GMB " while a different account put: "How has this gone from Mental Health to having banter over football . Disgrace! #GMB.", reports the Mirror.
Elsewhere, another show watcher put: "Rio is clearly fuming his core message was turned in to football banter. #GMB", another put: " Football banter? I thought this was supposed to be about mental health. Balls trivialising everything again. #gmb" while a different account added: "Why does Ed always spoil an interview by bringing it back to football! ".
It comes as Good Morning Britain fans praised Sharon Stone on Thursday after she shut down Ed over a "set up" question live on air.