Ben Shephard was forced to intervene on a heated debate that quickly got out of hand on this morning’s Good Morning Britain.
The presenter firmly – and repeatedly – had to tell guest Biba Tanya to calm down as she grew increasingly irate.
The discussion, centred around the divisive topic of childhood vaccinations, featured ITV’s resident medical professional Dr Hilary, alongside guests Biba and journalist Catherine Cooper.
Despite starting cordially enough, the debate quickly flew out of control when mother-of-three Biba began shouting at her fellow guests.
“People take the view that measles isn’t a serious disease, that it doesn’t matter,” Catherine, whose own son contracted measles at just eight months old, began, adding: “But people still die.”
“Nobody has died in the UK, that’s a government statistic,” Biba argued, interrupting the mum-of-two.
“90,000 people died of measles last year,” interjected Dr Hilary, which prompted the irate anti-vaccination campaigner to begin shouting at her fellow guests.
“If we could keep it a little calmer then we can hear what everyone has to say and your point will come across,” Ben firmly told the incensed mum-of-three, adding: “We don’t want this to become a big slanging match because that doesn’t achieve anything.”
When the discussion later flew out of control for a second time, Dr Hilary calmly told Biba: “I don’t want to shout at you.
“Anybody wanting to go back to the pre-vaccination era is not understanding what science has achieved.”
Viewers of the show quickly took to twitter to share their views in their droves.
One viewer Tweeted: “Wow. How aggressive is the woman who is against vaccination on Good Morning Britain?” while another added: “How dare that woman speak to Dr Hilary like that!”
Some woman on #goodmorningbritain thinking she knows more about vaccines than Dr Hilary just shows that we live in a world of morons
— Phil Plume (@philipplume) November 9, 2018
Wow that woman on good morning Britain is so aggressive!!! #GMB
— Alice Weekes (@aliceweekesy) November 9, 2018
Wow. How aggressive is the woman who is against vaccination on #goodmorningbritain ? Well done @benshephard and @DrHilaryJones for keeping your cool around such a vile woman.
— ellestedofficial (@travellested) November 9, 2018
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