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This Morning viewers furious over guest presenter’s huge gaffe

She didn't do her research

Viewers of This Morning were whipped into a frenzy of fury when an Irish Oscar nominee was described as British!

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Yes, the show’s hundreds of thousands of viewers were furious that the guest stylist reviewing the Oscars’ red carpet garments referred to actress Ruth Negga – who was born in Ethiopia and grew up in Limerick – as a Brit.

Speaking of the Oscar nominee’s divine red Valentino gown, the stylist from Closer magazine said: “She’s British, she’s really flying the flag for British style.”

Not realising her faux pas, Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby nodded along as if what she said was indeed true.

Irish fans immediately picked up on the gaffe and took to Twitter to vent their fury.

One angry viewer Tweeted: “What is with #ThisMorning? #ruthnegga is Irish, not British. Stop claiming that which does not belong to you!! #IrishOscarNominee”

Another raged: “They are saying on This Morning that Ruth Negga is British. Thought she was born in Ethiopia and raised in Limerick. Am I wrong?????”

And another riled viewer seethed: “#ThisMorning RUTH NEGGA IS IRISH…. IRISH. NOT BRITISH. good god”

Other viewers ranted:

Of course, it was just a mere slip of the tongue on the stylist’s part, but that didn’t stop people from venting angrily online.

“Ruth Negga is not British, she is of Irish and Ethiopian descent!” another short-tempered busy body fumed. “Please do your research and look at a map from time to time #ThisMorning”

We wonder if Ruth – nominated for Best Actress in Loving – would have laughed off the incident.

The star attended the ceremony at the Kodak theatre in LA and told waiting reporters that her role in the film was one that would live with her for the rest of her life.

She was also sporting a blue ACLU ribbon.

The ACLU, whose work is featured in her film Loving, is a non-profit organisation that supplied the legal resources for the real-life couple featured in the film to fight their case in 1958 when their inter-racial marriage was deemed in violation of Virginia’s anti-miscengenation law.


Christian Guiltenane
Freelance Writer