This Morning viewers labelled Phillip Schofield 'childish' today after he took a swipe at former health secretary Matt Hancock, on the daytime show.
The politician, who has dyslexia, appeared on the programme to discuss his campaign calling for all children to be screened for dyslexia before they leave primary school.
You can watch the toe-curling moment here:
In a nod to Hancock's affair scandal earlier this year, Phil said: "Was it your dyslexia that meant you misread the social distancing rules?"
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"No, I can't blame that on dyslexia or anything else," Hancock responded. "I'm not asking for any special favours because I'm dyslexic and in politics, I've got some things to offer... in that case, that was a mistake and I've apologised for it and it was a failure of leadership.
"I came on shows like this and asked people to do things and then didn't follow those rules myself."
The comment was made in reference to the revelation earlier this year that Hancock had been kissing colleague, Gina Coladangelo, despite the social distancing rules he had been championing throughout the pandemic.
But this morning viewers deemed Phil 'rude', with some calling the comment 'unnecessary'.
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One tweeted: "A Totally unnecessary comment! He was there to speak seriously about dyslexia!"
While another said: "That was rude!"
And a third added: "That comment really got my back up when such an important topic is being discussed."
Meanwhile a fourth wrote: "This comment was below the belt this morning."
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And a sixth added: "What a very childish way to ask a question from Phillip Schofield, if u r gonna as the question Just ask the question like a grown up. I assume Matt Hancock came on the show to talk about the difficulties of living with dyslexia not have a joke made out of it, grow up."
Philip's co-presenter Holly, who revealed earlier this year she also has dyslexia, also appeared to be shocked by the comment.
In March Holly said during an interview with a man who overcame being unable to read and started studying for a PhD on This Morning that she felt 'shameful' about not being 'very good' at spelling because of dyslexia.
"For me, because I'm not very good at spelling, for years I felt shameful about that," she explained.
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"Dyslexia is such a broad spectrum, people have so many different forms of it. Yes, I'm dyslexic also and I had to find my own tool kit and for me it was finding somebody who understood this who could teach me how to access those tools because at school it wasn't really that well known then."
In June Holly opened-up further and explained how dyslexia continues to affect her life today as well as her memories from school.
“I’ve struggled with dyslexia since I was young and it used to hold me back,” she said to Red magazine.
“At school, reading out loud absolutely terrified me because I’d get all the words wrong and I was convinced everybody thought I was stupid.”
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“It still happens now – most of the mistakes I make on This Morning are because of it,” she explained.
During the This Morning interview, Hancock told Holly: “I admire you talk about it.”
Writing in the Telegraph, Hancock is calling for both screening and further education in helping those with dyslexia.
"Simple early screening and education would go a long way towards helping dyslexics into the workplace and out of the cycle of crime, and be so valuable to businesses who can make the most of all that potential," he said.
“I’m passionate about improving support for dyslexic people – and all those with neurodiversity – because I feel I was one of the lucky ones.
“I had brilliant teachers and decent maths, so could get to an amazing university which could set me on the right path.”
Tyla has reached out to This Morning for comment.
Featured Image Credit: ITVTopics: TV And Film, This Morning, Coronavirus, ITV