Viewers of the show “Loose Women” were stirred into a frenzy when Charlene White chose not to wear a poppy in the lead-up to Remembrance Day during her appearance on ITV.
The well-known TV presenter, who also anchors on ITV News, shared the screen with Oti Mabuse, Judi Love, and Kelle Bryan for a live broadcast last week, noticeably without the symbolic poppy.
During discussions on trending topics such as Lily Allen’s separation from actor David Harbour and recent updates involving King Charles, audience members couldn’t help but focus on Charlene, 45, who stood out from her fellow panelists.
In stark contrast, Oti, 35, Judi, 45, and Kelle, 50, each sported a poppy on their attire, while Charlene chose not to adorn her pink jacket with the emblem.
The poppy is a traditional symbol worn in the days leading up to Remembrance Day on November 11, honoring military personnel who have lost their lives in wars.
Outraged fans took to X, previously known as Twitter, demanding Charlene’s removal from the ITV daytime lineup, accusing her of demonstrating “no respect.”
Loose Women viewers were left up in arms after Charlene White refused to wear a poppy ahead of Remembrance Day while appearing on the ITV show
While Oti, 35, Judi, 45, and Kelle, 50, were all wearing a poppy pin on their clothing, Charlene had opted not to place one on her pink jacket
One fan furiously penned after noticing the missing poppy: ‘Charlene shouldn’t be presenting as she doesn’t want to wear a poppy. No respect.’
‘I do think it’s disrespectful for Charlene not to wear a poppy. I know it gets mentioned every year,’ a second chimed in to agree.
A third continued: ‘Charlene why do you refuse to wear a Poppy? Every single person on the panel, in the audience, are wearing one, so why not you?’
As a fourth wrote: ‘Does Charlene not care that many men lost their lives fighting for our country? The disrespect of her not wearing a poppy is disgraceful.’
A fifth added: ‘Why isn’t Charlene White wearing a poppy?! Everyone else on Loose Women panel is. Disgraceful,’ while a sixth said: ‘Total disgrace to the memory of those who gave their lives for our future’.
Others stepped up to defend Charlene, with one fan writing: ‘In a democracy, you are supposed to be free to have your own views and opinions, not what the poppy police say you should do.’
A second mocked the furious viewers: ‘Oops, the poppy police are out again.’
While Charlene didn’t address her decision not to wear a poppy on the ITV show, she has previously acknowledged opting not to wear one before.
In an article she wrote for ITV last year, the TV presenter explained her decision stemmed only from the impartiality rules set due to her other charity work
Fans took to X to complain about Charlene not wearing a poppy
In an article she wrote for ITV last year, the TV presenter explained her decision stemmed only from the impartiality rules set due to her other charity work.
She wrote that it was ‘never an easy decision due to the racist and sexist abuse’ she receives on social media, and admitted she knew it ‘provoked a lot of anger’.
However, she explained that the broadcasting rules mean she isn’t visually allowed to support charities while presenting ITV’s news programming.
Listing a number of charitable organisations she’s a patron of, but is not allowed to mention on screen, she concluded that it made her ‘feel uncomfortable supporting just one charity above all others, namely The Royal British Legion’.
Charlene clarified that she ‘fully supports colleagues who do choose to wear the poppy’ and that in her private life ‘it’s very different’ for the star, donating to the British Legion each year and wearing a poppy on Armistice Day.
She also penned she had a ‘ceramic poppy from the Tower of London on her mantlepiece’ as she urged viewers not to think she doesn’t support the work of service personnel.
She added: ‘Please don’t think that I don’t understand the sacrifices made by servicemen and women 100 years ago. I do.
‘It is always important to remember what my family, your family, and millions of people over many generations have fought for: the right to choose, and the right of freedom of speech and expression.’
Other Loose Women stars (pictured: Kaye Adams) have been wearing the poppy ahead of Remembrance Day on November 11
Charlene has previously opened up on the abuse she has received at the hands of ITV viewers, including a campaign to get her sacked crudely titled, ‘Sack the S**g’.
Speaking to Love Sunday magazine in 2021, Charlene said she believes a lot of trolls think she is ‘fair game’ because she is a ‘black woman in the public eye’.
She said: ‘I do get some horrific abuse. But it’s the weird dynamic that because it happens so often, I’m very used to it – which I shouldn’t have to be. I’m a black woman in the public eye, so for a lot of people I’m fair game.
‘It all came to a head when a member of the EDL [English Defence League] said, “I’ve heard there’s a black girl on ITV that doesn’t wear a poppy” and told his followers to abuse me in any way they could find me.’
Charlene said she received several thousand comments along with the petition to try and get her sacked from ITV, describing the abuse as ‘overwhelming’.
She said: ‘As long as it doesn’t get as bad as that, it’s manageable. But that upset me a lot. It takes a lot to make me cry, but it got to a point where it was really overwhelming and really did make me cry.
‘It’s never been to that particular level since.’
Loose Women airs weekdays at 12:30pm on ITV1 and is available to stream on ITVX.
