This Morning star Isla Traquair came under fire recently for her coverage of the search for missing teen Jay Slater.
However, the 44-year-old journalist has now hit back at those trolling her…
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This Morning star Isla Traquair criticised
Last week, This Morning star Isla was in Tenerife reporting on the search for Jay Slater.
Jay, 19, went missing while on holiday in Tenerife on June 17. He went missing while attempting to walk the 10 hours back to his accommodation after missing a bus.
Isla came under fire for being in Tenerife, just days after criticising amateur sleuths heading out to Tenerife and interfering in the search.
Fans took to Twitter to criticise the star.
“Yesterday on #thismorning Isla Tarquair slams amateur sleuths for heading out to the location where #jayslater went missing in Tenerife, interfering & hampering police efforts. Today, Isla is in Tenerife & goes to location Jay Slater where went missing,” one viewer tweeted.
“What is Isla doing in Tenerife? How is that helping?” another said. “Isla has went to Tenerife after telling viewers to keep out of it [raised eyebrow emoji],” a third wrote.
“Isla now doing exactly what she scolded everyone else for,” another said.
This Morning star Isla Traquair hits back
Now, in a TikTok video, Isla has hit back at those criticising her for heading out to Tenerife.
“I don’t normally respond to trolls and comments online and I personally don’t really care about some of the things that have been said about me,” she said.
“But what I would like to do is clarify some facts so I’m not having to respond to all the different comments,” she then continued.
“I’m a journalist. I have been a journalist since I was 16 years old. I’m vastly experienced. I’ve won awards for what I do. And what do journalists do? We go to the location of a story and we report on them. I find it rather hilarious that has become the focus of a story,” she then said.
Isla went on to explain that the trip to Tenerife was prompted by an invitation to speak about the case on This Morning.
She also went on to say that Jay’s mother, Debbie, had specifically requested to speak with her.
Isla fights back as search is wound down
Isla continued, thanking people for their support amid the backlash.
“I genuinely really don’t care about the stupid comments because they’re written by people who have absolutely no clue what they’re talking about. And they can go and just maybe spend their time doing something more useful,” she said.
The search for Jay was wound down by Spanish police on June 30. Since then, the owner of an Airbnb Jay had returned to with two men after a rave has come out and confirmed the teen left the property “alive”.
A private investigator, Juan Garcia, has also spoken out, criticising the Tenerife Civil Guard for ending the search “prematurely”.
“Two weeks is too premature to end the search,” he told The Times. “[Slater] could be alive somewhere — someone can drink from rainwater and eat plants. The family should not give up hope.”
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This Morning airs on weekdays from 10am on ITV1 and ITVX.
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