GMB’s Ed Balls slams Charlotte Hawkins live on air with eight heartbreaking words

Charlotte Hawkins on GMB was fat-shamed by Ed Balls (Image: ITV)

Ed Balls faced backlash from Good Morning Britain viewers this morning after he labelled his co-star Charlotte Hawkins as “podgy” during her initial appearance on the magazine show This Morning.

On Tuesday’s episode, GMB aired a flashback clip of Charlotte’s debut as a model years ago on This Morning.

“I think you’ve aged beautifully,” Ed commented. “I would say you look younger now than then, back then you looked a bit more podgy.” A visibly upset Charlotte retorted: “Podgy? We’ll have words after this.”

Former I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! contestant Melvin Odoom appeared on the programme with his entertainment segment, during which the hosts discussed Mariah Carey’s anti-aging secrets.

Charlotte Hawkins regularly presents on GMB (Image: Getty)

Straight after Ed made his remark, Melvin intervened to repeatedly urge Ed to ‘move on’ from the situation, saying: “I’m trying to help you, my brother.”

Just before cutting to an advertisement break, Charlotte informed viewers: “I’ll have a word with Ed. In the meantime, here’s Laura with the weather.”

However, supporters of ITV’s morning news show were swift to voice their opinions about the brutal comment, taking to social media with their responses.

One remarked: “He’ll be up in front of the producers for that quip,” whilst another declared: “Ed Balls is so cringy and awkward around women.”

A third viewer expressed equal astonishment at Ed’s comment and attempted to highlight the ‘irony’ of the moment as they posted: “Did Ed really just say Charlotte looked fat when she was younger? Has he looked in the mirror lately? He’s so rude!”.

In May this year, former Strictly Come Dancing participant Charlotte, who previously presented Sunrise alongside Eamonn Holmes, marked her milestone 50th birthday with fans stunned upon discovering her actual age.

During a Good Morning Britain transmission, then-presenters Adil Ray and Kate Garraway halted proceedings for a special announcement.

Kate enthusiastically declared: “Now, we do have some major breaking news about someone in this very studio.”