Soccer Aid host Dermot O'Leary left 'traumatised' after being branded 'awful'
Dermot O'Leary has said he was brutally criticised by a stranger when he told her he worked in television, just before meeting up with friends at a restaurant in London
Dermot O’Leary admitted that he was traumatised after being branded awful by a random woman he bumped into before he saw his friends.
The Soccer Aid and This Morning host, 51, revealed to comedians Ed Gamble and James Acaster on the Off Menu podcast that he was walking into a London venue to meet with friends, when he bumped into a woman coming out.
As they met, she asked him if he worked in television, to which he affirmed, before she responded by saying that his programme was “awful”, without naming the programme.
Later, when his other friends came in, it turned out the woman had been equally as impolite with them about the state of television as she had been with Dermot.
He told Ed and James: “Walked in and there was a concierge. You go to the left you go to all the apartments, you go right and you go to the restaurant.
“And there was this old, lovely, kind looking lady who was at reception, just talking to the concierge and I was walking in and she saw me, and went, ‘Excuse me, are you on television?’
“And I said ‘Yes’, and she went, ‘Awful show! Awful!...Terrible! Terrible programme! Awful!’ I didn’t stop to ask which one, I just went in. And I sat down, I was quite traumatised, and my mates came in.”
Dermot then asked his friends what had been said to them once they admitted to the woman that they also worked in television.
He recalled: “She said to them, ‘There’s nothing on television, it’s all awful! Awful!’ She was so angry!”
Dermot’s comments came over a month before he was due to host Soccer Aid, airing Sunday night at 6pm on ITV.
In recent weeks, he has admitted to battling a painful health issue in the form of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder, a condition that affects a joint between the jawbone and the temporal bone called the temporomandibular joint.
Speaking on This Morning, Dermot recounted when symptoms began and when he sought help. He said: “I woke up last half term in October, out of nowhere and every time I opened my mouth to eat something, I got a massive pain around here,” indicating his jaw.
Speaking to guest Krina Panchal, who treated him for the condition, he added: “I ignored it for a bit because I’m a man and then finally got it… went to go and see an ear, nose and throat specialist, and he sent me to you.”