Uproar from This Morning viewers has continued after Sir Cliff Richard was accused of “fat-shaming” Elvis Presley on the ITV show.
The singer sat down with Alison Hammond, Dermot O’Leary, and Sarah Ferguson to chat about his successful career and to celebrate 65 years in the music industry.
However, things took an unexpected turn in the chat when Sir Cliff admitted he once refused to have a picture taken with Elvis because he was “overweight”.
This sparked a massive backlash on social media and many viewers took to X, formerly known as Twitter to make their feelings known.
@bpd1 complained: “I found #CliffRichard extremely offensive on #thismorning chatting to @AlisonHammond @radioleary @SarahTheDuchess bout not wanting to take pictures with someone if they are overweight. What a shallow nasty thing to say.” (sic)
@starlightlady32 echoed: “Even though my family are a big fan of cliff Richard but he shouldn’t have said this on this morning about Elvis is being disrespectful to him.”
@KathrynHaugh shared: “.. Loved the show today. Only one thing spoilt it.. I had to switch off when ‘I love me’ Cliff Richard came on..such a shame great show up to then…” (sic)
While @ThisTVGuy tweeted: “I think cancel culture may catch up with Cliff Richard today. You can’t be saying you didn’t want a photo because he was fat. That’s just rude you mean man! #ThisMorning.” (sic)
@sophie_summerz went on: “How dare #cliffrichard fat shame The King!”
However, some fans stepped in to defend Sir Cliff, as @vivienmiss stated: “Just noticed Cliff Richard is trending so just want to say to the loons who have taken offence at what he said about Elvis Presley, I’ve no doubt that Elvis won’t be offended.#FatLivesMatter.” (sic)
Sir Cliff’s admission came after he was asked whether he had ever met Elvis beore he died.
“No I did not, I had one chance through a journalist when I was promoting Devil Woman in the States,” he explained.
“He said, ‘Oh, I know Elvis’ because he knew I was influenced and he said, ‘Do you want to meet him?’
“And I said, ‘Yeah’, at the end of the interview though I said, ‘Can we put it off?’ He had put on a lot of weight and I thought, ‘If I am having a photograph taken with him and it’s going to be hanging on my refrigerator, he has got to look good’.
“So I put it off and then, of course, he died.”
Alison didn’t let the comment slide as she replied: “You should never have put it off just because they’re a little bit heavier.
“If you’re a fan of somebody’s and you get the chance to meet them, meet them even if they have put on weight,” Sir Cliff joked.
Express.co.uk has reached out to Sir Cliff Richard’s reps for comment.
This Morning airs weekdays at 10am on ITV.
