Jimmy Carr criticised for ‘disgusting’ treatment of chef Clodagh McKenna on This Morning

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Jimmy Carr has been called out for his “rude” and “disgusting” heckling of This Morning chef Clodagh McKenna.

The comedian was interviewed by hosts Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary, who present the show’s Friday episodes in place of the ITV daytime series’s fixed presenters. But he swiftly left viewers enraged by repeatedly interjecting while McKenna was trying to speak.

Carr, who is no stranger to controversy, appeared alongside Hammond and O’Leary during a segment that saw Irish chef and author McKenna cook a dish, and explain her methods while doing so.

However, viewers grew increasingly frustrated with Carr, who, at one stage, mocked McKenna’s pronunciation of certain ingredients and eventually criticised the finished meal she had cooked.

During the segment, Carr questioned McKenna’s pronunciation of what he believed to be the word “thyme”, to which the confused chef replied: “No, I never mentioned thyme.”

As she talked through the recipe in her allotted time, Carr quipped: “I need a pen – you’re really racing through this,” and when she informed viewers on “how to make chicken three ways”, Carr, sensing the opportunity for a joke, said: “What about chicken one way?”

His interruptions didn’t stop there. When McKenna placed a chicken carcass in a saucepan, Carr chimed in: “Have you not got a bin?” McKenna attempted to continue, but Carr added: “Pop it in the bin! It’s gone, the chicken is gone.”

After McKenna had finished cooking the meal, Carr questioned its quality, stating “You could make that even nicer by leaving out the broccoli.”

O’Leary, clearly feeling for McKenna, put a reassuring arm around her shoulder, and acknowledged that it seemed “hard” for her to do her job while being “heckled” by a comedian.

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Viewers agreed and, after growing infuriated by Carr’s interruptions, Carr was branded “rude”, “arrogant” and “disgusting”.

One viewer raged: “Jimmy Carr’s childish behaviour whilst @clodaghmckenna was trying to do her piece on today’s @thismorning was so rude & disrespectful, he even took the P out of her accent.”

McKenna’s Instagram has been flooded with replies from fans complaining about Carr, with one fan writing:"Sell done on biting your tongue with the rudeness of Jimmy Carr. The hosts clearly were mortified.”

Another fan wrote: “You were amazing under extreme interference.”

In 2022, Carr was heavily criticised for a “truly disturbing” joke he made about travellers in one of his Netflix specials.

The streaming service’s inclusion of the joke was branded “outrageous” by viewers, who called the joke “indefensible”.

Carr has drawn criticism many times over the years for his controversial jokes, which have mocked targets including people with Down’s Syndrome, amputee veterans and people with dwarfism.