It's 2021 and we all hope we'd be done with people body-shaming women in the public eye, but unfortunately, that's not the case and we were reminded of that this week.
Britsh radio presenter Steve Allen labelled Tilly Ramsay – who is currently on Strictly Come Dancing and Celebrity MasterChef – as "a chubby little thing" when responding to a listener's comment about her appearance on the cooking show.
"She's a chubby little thing isn't she, have you noticed? Probably her dad's cooking," said Allen, who hosts an early morning show on London radio station LBC.
Besides body shaming, Allen calling Ramsay a "thing" was downright dehumanising and uncalled for. What authority does this straight white man have to ridicule a woman's weight? None. In fact, no one has that right.
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The 19-year-old daughter of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay hit back on Instagram, saying she's open to criticism but she'd "draw the line" at negative comments about her appearance.
"I try not to read and listen to comments and negativity however recently being called out on a national radio station by a 67-year-old man is a step too far," she wrote in a lengthy post.
"Steve please feel free [to] voice your opinions however I draw the line at commenting on my appearance. It's such a shame that someone is trying to make such a positive experience negative."
Ramsay acknowledged this wouldn't be the last comment made by strangers about how she looks, but wanted to remind the radio host and others that she "won't tolerate" scrutiny about her weight.
"This isn't the first and definitely won't be the last comment made about my appearance and I accept that and I'm learning to accept myself," she wrote.
"But please remember that words can hurt and at the end of the day I am only 19 and I'm so grateful for all the amazing opportunities I have been able to take part in and I understand that being in the public eye obviously comes with its own repercussions and I've been aware of this from a young age.
"However I won't tolerate people that think it's okay to publicly comment and scrutinise anyone's weight and appearance."
Celebrity MasterChef judge Melissa Leong also condemned Allen for his comments.
"This is not cool Steve. You should be ashamed at your behaviour … you're not exactly a supermodel, mate," Leong wrote in an Instagram story.
"Elegantly handled like the graceful woman you are. #TeamTilly"
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