This Morning aired an interview featuring swearing before 11am on Tuesday – but said there was a very good reason behind it.
Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield explained they’d pre-recorded an interview with Ryan Stevens, described as having one of the UK’s most extreme cases of Tourette’s Syndrome.
Before the interview was played, Holly said: “Apologies in advance if you find anything offensive in this, but we think it’s important to let Ryan speak freely.”
During the chat, Ryan shouted out “[expletive] head”.
He also shouted, “silver fox”, presumably in reference to Phillip.
Read more: I’m A Celeb bosses reportedly angry with this campmate
Ryan was just 15 years old when he developed Tourette’s; he said it began as a “pressure in my head” that was initially diagnosed as cluster migraines.
However, it became clear something else was wrong after he finished a drama school performance and felt something happening in his head.
“The only way I can describe it is popping a balloon in a small space. All that space came back in my head and my head started to twitch.”
Ryan was taken to hospital where he was put through tests for brain tumours, before being diagnosed with Teenage Tics.
“I didn’t have many vocal tics at that point,” he said. “It went from head, shoulder, then one day I was on the floor looking like I’d had an epileptic fit.”
He said he’d managed to get through school and three years of college, and wanted to go to university but began having seizures on a more frequent basis, so it made more sense to stay near home.
Trying to explain how Tourette’s feels to him, he said: “It’s like if you need to sneeze but someone tells you that you can’t do it. Constantly suppressing it. People don’t get that and there’s still a lot of stigma about it.”
Ryan said the syndrome has made him do things he’d never normally do.
Read more: This Morning viewers threaten to boycott over lazy engagement content
“I’m not racist but one time I nearly pulled a lovely lady’s hijab off, telling her it was too warm to wear in the summer. That upsets me as I’m not that sort of person.”
He now appears in the new series of BBC 2 series, Employable Me, which follows people with neurological conditions in the workplace.
Viewers took to social media to praise Ryan – and the show for allowing him to speak unfiltered.
This Morning airs weekly at 10.30am on ITV.