Louise Minchin and Dan Walker BBC Breakfast fatberg
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BBC Breakfast viewers repulsed by ‘fatberg’ segment

Louise Minchin and Dan Walker put viewers off their breakfast

If you tuned into BBC Breakfast this morning it’s highly likely you didn’t fancy your toast and cereal after they showed a segment on a 64 metre fatberg in the sewers of Sidmouth, Devon.

Presenter Louise Minchin introduced the item with a warning, while she could be seen grimacing as co-host Dan Walker handed over to live reporter John Maguire.

Dan Walker and Louise Minchin BBC Breakfast
Louise Minchin looked disgusted at the prospect of a report about the fatberg (Credit: BBC)

Speaking to experts, John explained they were in the process of removing a large mass, known as a fatberg, from the Sidmouth sewers. One of the experts even held a jar full of the stuff.

Viewers found the segment a little hard to stomach so early in the morning, when they should’ve been settling down with a cuppa and their Coco Pops.

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Taking to Twitter, one vented: “Cheers peeps. Trying to eat my breakfast and you put up the gross picture of the ‘fat burger’. Exactly what I want to listen to WHILE I’M EATING!”

Fatberg in Devon on BBC Breakfast
Viewers really didn’t want to see the “gross” 64 metre fatberg over breakfast this morning (Credit: BBC)

Others shared the sentiment, saying that while the man-made fatberg was a valid issue, it wasn’t one that should be shown on breakfast TV.

“Put down your cornflakes and catch the #Sidmouth #fatberg,” another said.

Some even said they were so repulsed that they turned over to Good Morning Britain, but quickly changed their mind once they saw Piers Morgan was presenting!

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On the coast, John explained that engineers have been working to remove the fatberg for the past eight weeks. He said: “They have never seen anything like it, for this scale anyway.”

South West Water’s Andrew Roantree explained the fatberg had been caused “by things that we would say shouldn’t be put in the sewer” such as baby wipes, sanitary products, cooking oil and grease.

John Maguire with the experts on BBC Breakfast
BBC Breakfast’s John Maguire examines a sample of the fatberg (Credit: BBC)

He added: “They get stuck together by the fat and grease and congeal over a period of time and create these blockages in the sewage system.”

However, there was some good news as he explained that the extracted grease is able to produce power after it has gone through digesters.

Ending the segment before handing over to the regional news, John quipped to camera: “I hope you enjoy your breakfast.”

Did you see the segment on the fatberg? Let us know what you think over on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix by leaving us a comment!


Nancy Brown
Associate Editor

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