Reality TV shows are loved for their drama and controversy.
Big Brother, Love Island, X-Factor and Britain's Got Talent are amongst some of the nation's much loved shows as normal people show off their dazzling personalities. However, they are all shows were there has been a great deal of fall out.
At times the drama on the TV programmes have become offensive to viewers who then flock to regulators Ofcom to complain. Some memorable reality TV moments have made tens of thousands of viewers upset.
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The experts at Affise have compiled a list of the most complained about TV moments of all time, from binge-worthy reality TV shows to explosive interviews.
2021: Piers Morgan’s comments on Meghan Markle, Good Morning Britain - 57,121 complaints
Possibly one of the most complained about segments in Ofcom history has to be Piers Morgan’s comments on the Oprah interview with Meghan and Harry. During the interview, Meghan reflected on her mental health, and opened up about her struggles and how at one point she “didn’t want to be alive”. After the tell-all interview aired, Good Morning Britain host at the time, Piers Morgan, controversially said he ‘didn’t believe’ Meghan’s claims.
By 2pm that very same day, Ofcom had received a staggering 41,015 complaints and immediately launched an investigation. Later that day, Morgan quit the show. As of Wednesday, the figure rose by a whopping 57,121 complaints.
2007: Jade Goody & Shilpa Shetty, Celebrity Big Brother - 44,500 complaints
In 2007, Ofcom received a whopping 44.500 complaints due to a fight between the late Jade Goody and Shilpa Shetty. During this explosive season of CBB, housemates said they couldn’t pronounce Shetty’s name and instead called her “Princess” and “the Indian”. Jade Goody came under fire the most when she said that Shetty needed “a day in the slums”.
2018: Celebrity Big Brother & the Roxanne Pallett Scandal- 25,327 complaints
Celebrity Big Brother had its fair share of complaints throughout its 17 year run, but one of the biggest scandals that caused viewers to flock to Ofcom was the Roxanne Pallett ‘punch gate’ scandal, which resulted in 25,327 complaints.
In a shocking episode, ex-Emmerdale actress Roxanne Pallett falsely claimed that fellow contestant Ryan Thomas had assaulted her. She branded him a “woman beater” after they were seen play fighting. Roxanne later admitted that she got it “massively wrong”.
2021: Faye’s outburst at Teddy on Love Island – 24,763 complaints
In 2021, more complaints flooded Ofcom after Faye screamed at Teddy when he returned from Casa Amor and the villa were allowed to watch clips back. Ofcom confirmed it had received 24,763 complaints.
During the episode, Faye was seen shouting and swearing at Teddy after she saw a clip of him telling Clarisse he was sexually attracted to her. Following the episode many avid viewers rushed to Twitter to express how uncomfortable the scene was to watch and questioned whether Faye should still be allowed to take part in the show. A men’s domestic abuse charity released a statement calling her behaviour “unacceptable”.
2018: Kim Woodburn interview on Loose Women - 8,002 complaints
The popular ITV chat show Loose Women came under fire after receiving over 8,000 complaints after the queen of clean Kim Woodburn walked out of her interview on the ITV daytime show.
Kim had been invited on to speak with Coleen Nolan following their fight on Celebrity Big Brother. Viewers flocked to Ofcom to complain about the interview as they felt Kim had been ganged up on during her interview with the Loose Women panel. The interview resulted in Kim storming off the set and branding her CBB co-star “trash”.
2021: Faye being mislead over Teddy’s Casa Amor behaviour on Love Island – 5,000 complaints
Last year's series of Love Island broke records in the complaints department. Firstly, Ofcom received 5,000 complaints because of how Faye was mislead over Teddy’s behaviour in Casa Amor. Viewers were left furious after the main villa was sent a postcard, on which was a picture of Teddy kissing another girl. The picture was in fact taken during a challenge, but Faye saw it and decided she wanted to find someone else, then moved on with contestant Sam.
4,330 of the complaints were from people who said the postcard was “misleading and caused unnecessary distress”. More than 600 complaints were also made two days later, after the recoupling episode, as Teddy was left single on the island.
2010: Rhianna and Christina Aguilera’s X-Factor performance - 2,868 complaints
In 2010, Rihanna and Christina Aguilera performed together during an episode of The X Factor. However, the performance fuelled complaints from viewers as they branded the double acts duet as “too explicit”. Although, if Rihanna and Christiana Aguilera were to recreate the performance today we would imagine it wouldn’t get half as many complaints.
2015: Big Brother bullying in 2015 - 2,024 complaints
During the 2015 series of Big Brother, the reality show received 2,024 complaints from concerned viewers about bullying. Complaints flooded Ofcom after housemates Helen Wood and Marc O’Neill described fellow contestant Brian Belo as looking “like a murderer and a rapist.”
The offensive remarks led to Brian leaving the show, calling his housemates “bullies”. While Big Brother issued a warning to its housemates on bullying, Ofcom decided not to open a formal investigation.
2018: Love Island's Dani Dyer crying - 2,644 complaints
In 2018, it was hit reality TV show Love Island that viewers were not happy with. A total of 2,644 viewers made complaints to Ofcom after an episode aired contestant Dani Dyer crying because she thought her other half Jack Fincham was going to cheat on her.
Viewers believed the producers of the show allowed Dani to believe Jack was going to cheat on her for the purposes of making the show more entertaining and dramatic.
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