Loose Women viewers have criticised Tuesday’s panel for a discussion about two people critically ill in hospital.
Former Russian agent Sergei Skripal, 66, and a woman believed to be his daughter were found unconscious in Salisbury after being exposed to what police have called an ‘unknown substance’.
Andrea McLean kicked off the conversation by asking fellow panellists Janet Street Porter, Nadia Sawalha and Coleen Nolan if they were “a tiny bit excited” by the story.
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She said: “It’s like something out of a spy novel. You can’t believe in sleepy Salisbury that something like this could happen. Are you a tiny bit excited?”
Janet replied that no, she wasn’t excited, and brought up the history of spies over the years. She also spoke of the shock death of Alexander Litvinenko and how the photos of him in his hospital bed had stunned everyone.
Nadia said: “I’ve been fascinated by it. It’s just like a movie. Thinking of people in sleepy Salisbury, the neighbours, they would never have known…”
Andrea then pretended to hold a gun and move stealthily, and joked spies didn’t walk around like that.
Nadia also spoke about running joke in her house that when her mother passes away, the family reckon they’ll find she’s a spy. She cracked a few jokes about why the family may think that.
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At the end of the discussion Andrea said Loose Women sent their well-wishes to Sergei and the young woman.
She said: “Of course before we move on from this, we have to wish those involved in this – Sergei and the woman believed to be his daughter – we wish them well and hope they do recover from this.”
Some Loose Women viewers weren’t that keen on the tone of the segment, however, and took to Twitter to air their opinions.
After Andrea sent Loose Women’s thoughts to the family, viewers posted further tweets.
Details of what happened in Salisbury are still hazy but according to BBC News, Sergei is a retired Russian military intelligence worker who was convicted in 2006 of spying for Britain.
He moved to the UK in 2010 as part of a spy swap between this country and Russia.
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