This year has seen plenty of controversial moments on television. From claims of bullying on Love Island, to viewers' disgust at Naked Education, they have all riled viewers. And when viewers are riled, they complain to Ofcom. The TV watchdog has released their statistics from another contentious year of TV - and the results are fascinating. The broadcasting regulator revealed they received 69,236 complaints about 9,638 cases, which is nearly twice as many complaints as they dealt with in 2022. They added that two of the two most complained about programmes of the year make up nearly a quarter of the total complaints. With the year coming to an end, the Mirror took a look back at all the most-complained-about moments of the year...
Love Island - 992 complaints Fans accused Love Island contestants of bullying Scott (Image: ITV/REX/Shutterstock) The summer series of Love Island hit headlines due to the endless drama between the contestants. However, viewers were focused on how some of the stars were 'bullying' one of the other contestants. In July, fans flocked to Ofcom in their droves to hit out at the Islanders' 'bullying behaviour' towards contestant Scott van der Sluis. They received complaints after scenes showed Scott clash with fellow Islanders – as some viewers raised concerns about "bullying" behaviour. Following Movie Night and the drama that surrounded Casa Amor week, Scott found himself wrapped up in the scandal as Catherine Agbaje came back from Casa with a new man after failing to find a strong connection with Scott. He found himself caught up in even more drama when Movie Night got heated after a clip from Casa Amor week saw the footballer cheekily confess that he 'won't miss' Catherine once the new girls arrive. Scott had told Catherine that he had stayed loyal throughout his time at Casa Amor, but things took a turn for the worse when the Dublin-born Islander saw him make the comment. Leah Taylor suggested he was only single at the recoupling because 'no one wanted him'. Fans were furious and claimed the stars were 'ganging up' on Scott. This Morning's Vanessa Feltz - 1,092 complaints Vanessa Feltz's comments about coeliac disease were not well met (Image: ITV) Earlier this week, Vanessa Feltz found herself in the centre of a storm when she was accused of making 'irresponsible' comments about coeliac disease while appearing on This Morning. The 61-year-old presenter was part of a segment discussing struggles during the festive season. A called named Alison rang the show to discuss being "forced to have a gluten-free
Christmas " by her mother-in-law. Vanessa told the caller: "She’s treating coeliac disease as if it’s a kind of fatal, potentially fatal peanut allergy and that they can’t have anything with gluten in the house, which is completely unreasonable." Coeliac disease is a condition where your immune system attacks your own tissues when you eat gluten, which stops your body from taking in nutrients. It wasn't long before Vanessa apologised for her comments on her drivetime show on TalkTV. "I said what I said there, but then I added that you should go in the spirit of Christmas and enjoy a gluten-free meal anyway," she said. "I did not suggest that they put the coeliac in harm’s way nor did I intend to show in any shape or form any disrespect to anyone with coeliac disease. “I am astounded by the reaction and horrified that anyone is upset. I don’t think that I said anything wrong, but if anyone is upset, I am very sorry.” Naked Education - 1,285 complaints Naked Education proved about as controversial as you would expect (Image: Channel 4) In early April, Naked Education aired on Channel 4. The programme wanted to try and get rid of the taboos surrounding bodies and help educate the nation about bodies and what they look like. The programme was "body positive" and wanted to normalise all types of bodies. The show, fronted by Anna Richardson, Love Island star Dr Alex George and Yinka Bokinni, was promptly hit with hundreds of complaints following scenes that aired, which saw naked adults posing in front of children. Many were also concerned about the pre-watershed nudity. "Channel 4 Naked Education is NOT it. Showing children under 16 MINORS, people, strangers I should say, standing fully naked in front of them. WHY? Absolutely not. They do NOT need to see strangers fully naked to be educated on the body," one viewer wrote. Both Dr Alex and Anna defended the show and said it was educational. Breakfast with Kay Burley on Sky News - 1,640 complaints Kay Burley was accused of misrepresenting comments made by the Palestinian ambassador, Husam Zomlot Sky News viewers said that Kay Burley had misrepresented comments made by the Palestinian ambassador, Husam Zomlot, during a discussion on her show on October 10th. Viewers said Kay had repeatedly misquoted the Palestinian Ambassador to the
UK on three occasions. Kay allegedly claimed that Mr Zomlot had said 'the Israelis had it coming' but in his statement, he had said "the loss of civilian lives is tragic on all sides" and that "Israel knew this was coming their way." Viewers had taken to the internet, where they said that "Burley’s representation and Zomlot’s actual remarks is striking and deserves attention". They continued: "It is imperative to set the record straight and address this misrepresentation, as it holds significant implications for the ongoing situation in Palestine. As such, we urge the community to take action and register complaints with Ofcom concerning Ms. Burley’s inaccurate portrayal and vilification of Mr. Zomlot." Ofcom revealed that "complainants alleged Kay Burley misrepresented comments". The news outlet also admitted to the 'misleading representation'. "Earlier this month we reported that the Palestinian ambassador to the UK, Dr Husam Zomlot, said in reference to the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7 that 'Israel had it coming'," they said. "We recognise that this is not what Dr Zomlot had said in an earlier interview. Sky News also accepts that this gave a potentially misleading representation of Dr Zomlot's views." Lee Anderson's Real World - 1,697 complaints Complaints were made about a GB News interview between MPs Lee Anderson and Suella Braverman (Image: Andy Stenning/Daily Express) Ofcom received endless complaints about the GB News interview between MPs Lee Anderson and Suella Braverman that aired at the end of September. The complaints from viewers about the interview with Mrs Braverman were concerning the fact they were both sitting Conservative MPs and viewers pointed out the impartiality required of broadcast news and debates. At the time, viewers rushed to
Social Media to complain about the lack of fair reporting. "Look, it’s a Tory party political broadcast," one user said while one added: "He’s not 'GB News Lee Anderson' he's the chairman of the Conservative Party ". Political commentator Matthew Stadlen tweeted: "Lee Anderson interviewing Suella Braverman on national telly is the sort of thing that would happen on state TV in a dictatorship. He is literally Deputy Chair of her party." Breakfast with Kay Burley on Sky News (again) - 1,880 complaints Sky News presenter Kay Burley made the list more than once (Image: Getty Images) Viewers complained after watching an interview between Kay Burley and an
Israeli spokesperson, Eylon Levy. Ms Burley said to Mr Levy: "I was speaking to a hostage negotiator this morning. He made the comparison between the 50 hostages that Hamas promised to release, as opposed to the 150 prisoners that are
Palestinians that Israel has said that it will release. He made the comparison between the numbers and the fact that…does Israel not think that Palestinian lives are valued as highly as Israeli lives?" He answered: "That is an astonishing accusation. If we could release one prisoner for every one hostage we would obviously do that. We are operating in horrific circumstances. We’re not choosing to release these prisoners who have blood on their hands - we are talking about people who have been convicted of stabbing and
shooting attacks. "Notice the question of proportionality doesn’t interest Palestinian supporters when they’re able to get more of their prisoners out. But really it is outrageous to suggest that the fact that we are willing to release prisoners who are convicted of terrorism offences, more of them than we are getting our own innocent children back, somehow suggests that we don’t care about Palestinian lives. "Really, that’s a disgusting accusation." Jeremy Vine on Channel 5 - 2,302 complaints Jeremy Vine's segment on the junior doctors' strike generated more than 2,000 complaints Jeremy Vine was criticised by angry viewers who were not happy with a debate on the Channel 5 programme concerning the junior doctors' pay dispute. In March, Jeremy invited broadcasters Lin Mei and Kevin Maguire to discuss junior doctors in the NHS in
England taking strike action over pay disputes. Lin argued: "We need doctors and I don't think the
Job of being a doctor is as attractive anymore so I do agree they need a pay rise but 35 percent is a stretch. Essentially like [Jeremy] said being a doctor is like being in other fields as a graduate or apprentice. Now the average for a graduate is £25,000, so they're still getting more than the average graduate." However, Jeremy argued junior doctors enter the job market "loaded with debt" because of the intensive training they undergo. Lin hit back and claimed a 35 percent pay rise is not "achievable or doable". Kevin disagreed with his co-panellist and argued: "Junior doctors make it sound like they're hardly doing anything. Most of the doctors we will encounter are junior doctors." The discussion sparked a debate on
Twitter as Jeremy Vine viewers shared their support for junior doctors. Good Morning
Britain on ITV - 2,391 complaints Richard Madeley outraged viewers with one of his questions to MP Layla Moran (Image: ITV) Good Morning Britain was hit with complaints when Richard Madeley asked British-Palestinian MP Layla Moran if she had any intel on the October 7
terror attack against Israel. Laya was on the ITV daytime TV programme in October while her family were trapped in Gaza. Richard shockingly asked her if she knew what was happening in
Gaza before the actions took place. Richard said: "With your family connections in Gaza, did you have any indication of what was going to happen ten days ago, two weeks ago? Was there there any word on the street?" Shocked by what she had heard, the MP for Oxford West & Abingdon responded: "Not this, not this," before adding: "Everyone, everyone has been surprised first of all by the timing and sophistication and the way that it's happened. What I will say is that I've been warning, and others have in Parliament as well for a number of years now, that if we don't find a way..." Ms Moran continued: "People say 'go back to the negotiating table'. The fact of the matter is there has not been a table, let alone to go back to a negotiating table for at least ten years. This is a cycle of violence. My worry now is that this is radicalising another generation on all sides. We have to stop this hatred. We have to bring people together and find a way through. Peace is harder than war. It's harder." However, in a statement later the same day, he apologised for his comments. King Charles III: The Coronation on ITV - 8,421 complaints Adjoa Andoh later said she didn't mean to upset anyone with her comments (Image: ITV) King Charles ' Coronation was hit with a large number of complaints from viewers across the UK. The coverage was broadcast over the weekend of Saturday, May 6 and Sunday May 7 when royal fans from all over the globe tuned in to see
Queen Elizabeth's son officially become the King of England. The majority of the complaints were related to comments made by
Actress Adjoa Andoh during coverage of the Coronation. Other complaints were made in relation to the non-stop coverage of the King's Coronation, as most channels broadcast the entire weekend and also Prince Andrew's appearance at the historic event. Sitting alongside Myleene Klass to discuss the newly crowned King and Queen,
Netflix star Adjoa shared her thoughts on the moment Charles and Camilla were joined by members of their family to wave at their subjects from the balcony of Buckingham Palace. "We have gone from the rich diversity of the Abbey to a terribly white balcony," Adjoa mused when speaking to Tom Bradby and Julie Etchingham. Adjoa apologised for her comments and said she "didn't mean to upset anyone". Dan Wootton Tonight on GB News - 8,867 complaints Ava Evans, who is at the centre of comments made by Laurence Fox on GB News, has said her direct messages on social media are full of “astounding” threats (Image: ITV) The Dan Wootton
Tonight Show sparked outrage over a sexism row. In September, political journalist Ava Evans discussed men's mental health and suicide on BBC's Politics Live show, which led former
Actor Laurence Fox to launch a vile tirade of abuse towards her while chatting to Wootton on GB News. In his vicious rant, Fox mocked Evans and publicly humiliated her. He asked the question: "Who'd want to shag that?" He also described Ms Evans as a "little woman" and declared: "We don't need these sort of feminist 4.0" who he said are "pathetic and embarrassing". Fox and Wootton received a lot of backlash online, with GB News later suspending Wootton. In a statement shared on X (formerly Twitter ), the network said: "GB News has suspended Dan Wootton following comments made on his programme by Laurence Fox last night. This follows our decision earlier today to formally suspend Mr Fox. We are conducting a full investigation." The GB News presenter's contract with MailOnline was terminated a day later.