The UK’s leading epilepsy charity has responded to Cat Deeley’s apology for making a joke about seizures live on This Morning.
During Monday’s show, the daytime host could be seen dancing next to her co-presenter Ben Shephard shortly after an ad break.
“Nothing to see here,” she said. “I’m fine, just having a seizure.”
Her remarks quickly sparked backlash online, with the Epilepsy Society writing on X (formerly Twitter) that seizures are “no laughing matter for people with epilepsy”.
Seizures are no laughing matter for people with #epilepsy@catdeeley.
— Epilepsy Society (@epilepsysociety) June 17, 2024
Please do better and educated yourselves about this difficult and poorly understood condition, @thismorning ???? pic.twitter.com/txEOo0zeyC
The next day, Cat began the ITV daytime show by apologising to “anyone who was offended yesterday when I made a light-hearted comment about my dancing style”.
“It really wasn’t supposed to cause any upset to anybody,” she continued. “But I can see why that might have been the case. So I do apologise, I’m very sorry. It didn’t come from [a bad] place at all.”
The Epilepsy Society has since issued a response in light of Cat’s apology, writing on X that she had made an “impromptu and ill-judged remark about seizures” and “rightfully apologised for her comment”.
Chief Executive of the Epilepsy Society Clare Pelham added in a statement: “We all make mistakes, and often something good can come from a mistake. We hope that will be the case at This Morning.
“There is so much that they could do to improve understanding of seizures and the right way for the public to respond to them. This is particularly important for people with epilepsy who live with stigma every day.
The statement concluded: “I would like to thank Cat Deeley for her apology on This Morning. We understand that it is difficult on live TV for every remark to be well-chosen and well-expressed.”
On yesterday's episode of @thismorning ,Presenter @catdeeley made an impromptu and ill-judged remark about seizures, today she rightfully apologised for her comment.
— Epilepsy Society (@epilepsysociety) June 18, 2024
Our Chief Executive @ClarePelham said "We all make mistakes, and often something good can come from a (1/3) pic.twitter.com/QaaEs3oWok
mistake. We hope that will be the case at This Morning. There is so much that they could do to improve understanding of seizures and the right way for the public to respond to them. This is particularly important for people with epilepsy who live with stigma every day.
— Epilepsy Society (@epilepsysociety) June 18, 2024
(2/3)
Cat and Ben took over as the main presenters on This Morning earlier this year, following the departures of Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby in 2023.
Philip resigned from ITV in May 2023 after 21 years, after admitting to having lied about an affair with a much younger colleague on the show.
Holly subsequently took a break from hosting the daytime TV show, and left altogether in October following a man’s arrest over an alleged plot to kidnap her.
