Rip Off Britain

[smurfchops]

I really like Gloria and Julia but I just cannot watch Angela Ripon. She is so up her own @rse. Anyone feel the same?

[teacake44]

No, I've got a lot of time for anyone who exposes the cowboys.

[Hopkirk]

No

[barry1010]

I've always liked Angela especially since her gig on the Morecambe and Wise show

[ummmm]

No.

[david small]

Having not been up Angela’s @rse I couldn’t possibly comment.

[Karolina82]

I like Angela Ripoff.

[saintpeter48]

I feel the same about Gloria Hunniford, can't stand the woman.

[Gettingonabit]

Angela is the best one on the program. Gloria dresses as though she still thinks she's 15.

[DarceyK123]

Dont mind Angela but Gloria is a little gratting. No matter what the subject matter she always manages to drop something in about her daughter Caron.

[bobbie22]

Darcey
with regards to your comment about Gloria Hunnifords daughter. I have lost a son and no one know how hard life it when this happens. I mention my son very often in conversation. You never get over the grief.

[jobjockey]

I enjoy the show, we always refer to
it as the 'Golden Girls'

[andy-hughes]

bobbie22 - // Darcey
with regards to your comment about Gloria Hunnifords daughter. I have lost a son and no one know how hard life it when this happens. I mention my son very often in conversation. You never get over the grief. //

Firstly, sincere condolences for the loss of your son.

But the point Darcy makes, and I make when it comes up, is not that GH mentions her deceased daugher, it's that she will shoehorn such mentions into any and every time she opens her mouth if she can.

When the widower of Linda Bellingham came into the studo to discuss his loss, it was a matter of seconds before the dreaded "When we lost Caron ..." which signals another of her dreadful monologues, turning the attention to herself yet again.

It's not that I or anyone else I am sure, would deny any grieving parent a chance to talk about thier loss, it's that Gloria Hunniford has parlayed into a career strand, and that is undigified.

Talking about your loss with your family and close friends - natural and to be expected.

Swinging the conversation onto your loss at every opportunity on national televisiuon is simply ghoulish and increasingly inappropriate.

[iluvmargie]

You haven't lost a child ah so you have NO IDEA at all of her pain.

[andy-hughes]

iluvmargie - // You haven't lost a child ah so you have NO IDEA at all of her pain. //

I have never suggestede that I do have any idea of her pain.

But I do understand the simple dignity of dealing with your grief in a respectful manner, which does not include manipulating any conversation onb natinal television around to reminding everyone of your loss.

Pain from the loss of a child is something I cannot begin to imagine.

Using that grief as a conversation opener in a way that suggests Ms Hunniford has a monoply on such grief, which she does with inappropriate regularity, is nothing to do with grieving, and everything to do with attention-seeking.

Grief is about dignity and privacy, not grandstanding on television.

[Mamyalynne]

There's no rule book on grief, isn't it enough to simply state you dislike the woman in this case?

I rarely watch the programme but think they present it well to ge the points across re scams and poor service.

[Ellipsis]

Andy, your issue isn't really with GH, it's with TV show organisers who continue to her invite her on to their programmes despite the fact that she talks about her daughter. Perhaps they've realised that most of their intended audiences don't mind this, and those that do can get stuffed.

[Zacs-Master]

Andy, the statement '...understand the simple dignity of dealing with your grief in a respectful manner' conflicts with 'Pain from the loss of a child is something I cannot begin to imagine.'

If you can't imagine the grief of losing a child, how do you know it's something you'd be able to do with dignity and respect?

[bobbie22]

Like I said. If you haven’t lost a child you haven’t got a clue. You can lose husbands parents, but it’s not the same. My full sympathy with Gloria

[andy-hughes]

Mamya - // There's no rule book on grief, isn't it enough to simply state you dislike the woman in this case? //

My point is not that Gloria Hunniford is grieving for her lost child - it;s the way she manipulates conversations into giving her a platform to talk about it, as though she is the only one in that position, and using natinal television as a platform to draw attention to yourself in that way is unseemly, and I have, and do call her out on it.

Gordon Brown and David Cameron, both far higher public figures with vastly more air time than Ms Hunniford could dream of, never once mentioned their losses - because simply human dignity means keeping such dreadful pain away from public airing.

Every parent of a lost child is condemned to a lifetime of pain and memories - only one makes it into a career move.

[JimF]

Apparently, the odds are now 1,000-1 against that A-H won't have the last word in this thread.