GB News has sparked fury after a guest suggested all asylum seekers should be "castrated" during a live broadcast.
The comments by businesswoman Hilary Fordwich were aired on Friday during The Late Show Live programme, hosted by Ben Leo, and have since sparked calls for media regulator Ofcom to investigate the channel.
During a discussion on migration, Fordwich said: "I've said this before, why on earth do we have the pull factors, and we need to have more deterrents?
"Actually, given the precedents of a lot of these men and what they've done in our nation, what if instead of pull factors, what if we were to say that anyone seeking asylum needs to be castrated due to all the rapes that are being committed?
"That certainly would be a massive deterrent."
When asked if she meant all asylum seekers, Fordwich replied: "Yes, because that's a deterrent."
Fordwich later went on to accept that while not all asylum seekers commit sex offences, "if you did something like that, they certainly would not be coming".
Leo responded: "That sounds a bit bonkers. I'm sorry, I love you, but you can't pre-emptively castrate asylum seekers."
Fordwich then asked: "Why not?"
The rest of the panel can be seen sat in silence, before Leo asked political commentator Matthew Stadlen to respond.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I'll leave that to you, Ben.
"I've never seen you shocked by something someone on your side of the argument has said. I have nothing to say."
Leo then claimed he believed Fordwich was "joking around".
Following the programme, Stadlen posted on social media that Fordwich's remarks were "a contender for the most shocking revolting comment ever expressed on British television".
A contender for the most shocking and revolting comment ever expressed on British television pic.twitter.com/UYaKrbkVNt
— Matthew Stadlen (@MatthewStadlen) September 25, 2026
Calls are now growing for media regulator Ofcom to investigate the channel over the comments.
Tim Naor Hilton, chief executive of charity Refugee Action, told The National: “These hateful and dangerous comments promote violence against people seeking asylum and they must be urgently investigated."
"While it is at the extreme end of the spectrum, it’s deeply concerning that viciously racist opinions such as these are becoming the norm.”
Ofcom releases reports every week detailing the programmes which received the most complaints.
The next available report, which includes the period in which the GB News programme aired, is set to be published on Wednesday.
Media monitoring platform NewsCord has started a campaign calling on Ofcom to investigate the matter.
More than 600 complaints have been sent as part of the campaign at the time of writing, the group said.
