It was inevitable really
Richard Madeley had a cringe-worthy moment of Partridge-ness as he and Susanna Reid interviewed former ISIS member Shamima Begum on Wednesday morning (September 15).
Begum was appearing on Good Morning Britain live from Syria, taking part in a wide-ranging interview with Reid and Madeley in which she apologised for ISIS’s actions and said she could help the government fight extremism in the UK.
And when you’re thinking of people that you’d want to conduct such a sensitive, complex and politically charged interview, Richard Madeley is probably the very last person that would come to mind.
There was a sense of inevitability then when his Partridge nature finally broke through.
When the interview had to be paused to cut to an advert break, Madeley said: “We’re going to have to take a break there, there’s a lot more to ask you and put to you Shamima.”
He then told the 25-year-old: “You stay there.”
Begum is in a prison camp. In Syria.
You can see the moment below.
https://twitter.com/TobyonTV/status/1438032018835755012
Madeley is well-known for being the real-life Alan Partridge and has had plenty of moments like this over his career, including another on the subject of Shamima Begum.
In June this year, the 65-year-old, who was once again on hosting duties for GMB, compared Begum’s case to that of the Hitler Youth.
There are a plethora of journalists and hosts who are capable of conducting hard-hitting interviews tackling complex issues and people. Richard Madeley is not one of them. Maybe keep him away from this sort of stuff in the future, yeah?
Related links:
- Shamima Begum says PM ‘doesn’t know what he’s doing’ fighting UK extremism
- Shamima Begum’s ex-lawyer facing investigation for Taliban tweet
- Richard Madeley goes full Partridge on Shamima Begum and Hitler Youth
