Good Morning Britain viewers were not happy with the programme’s delivery of the Pope’s death today. The Lorraine show hosted by Christine Lampard was cut short to cross over to its sister programme, where host Ranvir Singh announced the sad news.
Ranvir was wearing a black jacket when she made the announcement, having earlier been seen sporting a colourful, summery dress. However, viewers thought her new attire looked ‘ill-fitting’ and ‘unprofessional’ as they took to X to complain about her blazer, which, unfortunately, didn’t cover her distracting dress. Claiming the jacket looked like it had been loaned to her by co-host, Richard Madeley, one quipped: “Very unprofessional. Would’ve been better if you’d just gone to the ITV newsroom rather than GMB, and see Ranvir in a clearly ill-fitting jacket loaned to her by Richard. Especially with such breaking news.”
Another posted: “They put Ranvir in one of Richard’s suit jackets to read the Pope has died @gmb” while a third commented: “Bit OTT making Ranvir wear a black jacket #gmb”.
ITV chat show Lorraine was dramatically cut short today by Christine as the presenter announced the death of Pope Francis, who died aged 88 today, with Cardinal Kevin Ferrell announcing the sad news at 7:30am.
Christine was midway through an interview with Pilgrimage star Harry Clark when she was forced to interrupt him for the breaking news. Lorraine was then taken off air, with Ranvir and Richard taking over to announce that Pope Francis had died.
They told viewers: “Christine, thank you so much. as you say, we do have some breaking news from Rome. The Vatican has just announced the death of Pope Francis.”
Richard then read out the statement from Cardinal Kevin Farrell, which read: “Dearest brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis. At 7.35am, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father.
“His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and of His Church. He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with fidelity, courage, and universal love, especially in favour of the poorest and most marginalized.
“With immense gratitude for his example as a true disciple of the Lord Jesus, we commend the soul of Pope Francis to the infinite merciful love of the One and Triune God.”
Pope Francis had suffered a number of health issues over the last few months as he was admitted to the Gemelli hospital in Rome for bronchitis treatment in February.
Paying tribute to the pontiff on Easter Monday, a whole host of celebrities, sent their condolences, including actors, Whoopi Goldberg, Eva Longoria and Antonio Banderas.
Whoopi was one of the first to react to the news and alongside an image of her standing alongside the Pope, she wrote: “He was the closest in a long time that seemed to remember that Christ’s love enveloped believer and none believer.
“He felt more like Pope John the 23rd who made belief real. Sail on Pope Francis with your love of humanity & laughter.”
Meanwhile, Spanish star, Antonio, shared: “Pope Francisco has died — a man who, at the head of the Catholic Church, showed kindness, love, and mercy to the neediest people. @franciscus #RIP #DEP.”
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