A BBC Breakfast interview raised a few eyebrows across social media after a guest star was left bemused by a question - that some viewers felt ‘should never have been asked’.
Actress Rakie Ayola, who stars in new BBC drama The Pact, was praised for her response to a question from host Victoria Fritz. Speaking to Rakie on the Breakfast sofa, Victoria said of the upcoming series: "There will be some people who see this and will say this is a woke version of a Welsh family."
Rakie rolled her eyes at the comment, to which Victoria continued: “I can see you rolling your eyes. Tell me.” The actress went on to give a rousing response which was applauded by viewers - but many were not happy that the initial comment had been made in the first place, The Mirror reports .
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Rakie began: “If anybody wants to say that to me, what I would say is: explain what you mean by 'woke' and then we can have the conversation. If you cannot explain it, don't hand me that word, don't use a word that you cannot describe because you don't know what you mean - or maybe you know exactly what you mean and you're afraid to say what you mean, so let's have that conversation.
“Sit there and tell me what you mean by 'woke' and then we can talk about whether this show is woke or not,” the star continued. “Then I will introduce you to a family just like this one.
“So are you saying that they don't exist, when they clearly do?” she asked. “Are you saying that they're not allowed to exist? What do you mean by that?”
Rakie finished: “Let's have a proper conversation. Don't throw words around, willy-nilly, when you're not afraid to say exactly what you mean. If you don't know, please be quiet because you're incredibly boring.”
Victoria nodded in agreement with the actress, replying as she ended the interview: “Absolutely. Rakie there, telling us how it is.”
Viewers took to Twitte r to share their thoughts on the segment and the ‘woke’ comment, with several criticising the host’s phrasing. “A calm response to a preposterous question,” one person wrote. “I would've been happy for her to have simply replied - you say some people, which people?”
Another added: “I think that's an extraordinary question for that BBC presenter to put to her - it should never have been asked.” A third viewer dubbed the comment “extraordinarily phrased”, while a fourth branded it “genuinely outrageous”.
Many viewers were quick to praise Rakie for her response. “Rakie Ayola is a national treasure,” one person tweeted. “What a fantastic answer to a bizarre question.”
“Rakie Ayola brilliant on BBC Breakfast this morning,” another said. “Best answer I've heard to criticism of TV shows being ‘woke’. Completely dismantled the idea of the term and the cowardice behind its use.”
“This is both a lesson in how not to conduct an interview, and how to handle those situations with grace. Rakie Ayola is the best of us,” a Twitter user added. The Mirror has reached out to BBC Breakfast for comment.
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