It was the usual mix of mundane, menopausal, HRT-induced, daytime dross, with the flash mob hacks settling in for their daily cackling sessions as they huddled together in a tea-fuelled frenzy and tried to set the world to rights. And no, I’m not talking about Frances Fitzgerald, Mary Mitchell-O’Connor and Katherine Zappone; I’m talking about those other overpaid spitfires who make up the panel of ITV’s Loose Women! Dear God, if ever anyone was tempted to throw a sickie from work, and, dosed up to the eyelids on paracetamol, accidentally tuned in, the ‘I’m a nobody, get me out of here,’ panel’s drivel would be guaranteed to have them back at their desk faster than a course of Penicillin!
You guessed it, I cannot stand Loose Women, and, while I’m glad yer one with the hairdo that looked like a lampshade and who used to ‘sing’ on the P&O ferry has long since left, the show has actually gone downhill (as if that were possible) since Katie ‘the Pricey’ Price joined the panel with the former glamour model failing to live up to her much-lauded promise to be “the most outspoken of them all.”
Oh yeah, when I read that, I could clearly hear the great British public’s knitting needles clicking and then tensing in anticipation of her flat-as-a-failed-soufflé debut!
However, last week, the show plunged to a new low when Pricey’s adorable son, Harvey, a young man who was born blind and with the rare genetic condition Prader-Willi syndrome, but who has made amazing strides in his young life, was, I feel, placed in a compromising situation when, asked what he thought about cowardly internet trolls who have said disgusting things about him, responded, live on air, in the middle of the afternoon when young kids could have been watching, by dropping the C-bomb!
I do not, for one second, blame this child for using that particular word, in fact I lay the blame firmly at the feet of his mother whom, according to the Daily Mail, ‘refused to pre-record the segment so that people could see the real Harvey.’ However, as someone who has worked extensively on live TV, daytime as well as night-time, I have to say I would never have placed a child, especially one who was vulnerable, in such an incendiary situation and the show’s producers, media lawyers and, in particular, the editor, who has the final say, should have insisted on a pre-record because, if I’d been in charge, that’s what would have happened, otherwise I’d have pulled the entire segment; end of…I mean, who died and gave Katie Price editorial control?
Furthermore, while I’ve no doubt that Price is an excellent, caring and responsible mother, I have to ask these questions… why is her vulnerable child even aware of these internet trolls and how does he know that a word like the one he dropped even exists??? Now while I applaud his response, and while he is perfectly correct in slagging off those evil degenerates who hide behind their keyboards to abuse, bully and mock those who are far more vulnerable, and while I’m not questioning amazing Harvey’s response, I am questioning his mother’s decision to capitalise on him.
You see, it’s a tricky line to walk, but sadly, you’ll often find that when a parent is so desperate to remain in the limelight, they’ll offer their kid up for consumption by the media. In my opinion, it’s Price’s decision if she wishes to give up her own privacy and lay her life bare to the world, however it is not her decision as to whether her child gives up his privacy; and while we all make mistakes, and I’m far from being perfect, allowing a vulnerable young person to know, in detail, exactly what internet sickos are saying about him, and then placing him in a live, daytime TV situation to ask how he’d like to react, is one parenting decision I personally would never make!
How a ‘Bit on the Side’ can raise your blood pressure!
As a vegan, my staple diet is veg, veg and more veg…and of course, that hearty helping of veg is mostly made up of the ever-versatile, humble Irish spud. Baked, boiled, chipped or roasted…you name it, there is nothing I love more than an aul bit on the side…ahem, steady now; what I mean is a bit of spud smothered in a generous dollop of coconut oil…on the side of my plate!!!
My reason for loving the great Irish spud is further enhanced by the fact it’s got more potassium than a banana, more vitamin C than an orange and it’s very helpfully packed full of fibre.
However, last week, those bloody annoying boffins at the British Medical Journal fecked it all up when they revealed that ‘men and women who ate four or more servings of boiled, baked or mashed (potatoes) in a week had an 11 per cent increase in blood pressure,’ with an increase of up to ‘17 per cent’ for those who ate four or more servings of French fries in a week.
Wow, it seems that with these findings, the wonderfully versatile poor aul potato has suddenly been recast, plummeting from superhero to zero leading me to think us spud heads should start up a ‘Pro-Potato’ campaign on FB…who’s with me?
Well done to our all-inclusive Defence Forces
This time last year our country witnessed something wonderful when the same-sex marriage referendum was carried.
Now an Army spokesperson has confirmed (this week) that “there is no discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.” As it launched its recruitment drive, it was heartening to see those words being backed up when, earlier this month it was reported that, ‘the first gay marriage involving Defence Force personnel took place.’
Congratulations to Naval Service Lieutenant, Grace Fanning and partner Carol Brady, a nurse, who got married in a ceremony in County Wexford; I wish you a long and happy life together. And well done to our Defence Forces; it appears we finally have a military that’s all-inclusive and fully representative of twenty first century Ireland and all its citizens. We have come a long way!
