A LEADING campaigner for the disabled in South Cumbria has told how she struggles to watch a prime time TV dating show...

...because it ridicules and devalues the people it features.


CRITICAL Margaret Burrow MBE, who says The Undateables ridicules its subjects Margaret Burrow likened Channel 4’s The Undateables to a so-called penny freakshows in Victorian times, saying the show had failed to raise issues around disabilities in a positive way.

The controversial programme, which airs every Monday, has polarised debate since it was first broadcast in 2012.

Mrs Burrow MBE, chief executive officer at Barrow & District Disability Association and a member of the South Cumbria Independent Advisory Group, said: “It reminds me of Victorian times when people would pay a penny to go and gawp at people with disabilities in a mad house, calling them something disgusting like cripples or cretins.

“I was actually only able to watch one episode of the television program. I had to turn it off because it made me feel so uncomfortable.

“The episode I saw showed a man with severe physical, and mental disabilities, as well as a speech impediment, put in a very embarrassing position.

“It just made me too upset to watch the way in which he was humiliated on national television.”

The programme has split opinion across the nation with some doctors claiming that it exploits its subjects, but The Undateables is still one of Channel 4’s most popular shows, with viewing figures consistently averaging around 2.3m.

This year has been especially explosive because the first episode featured hunky Welsh rugby player Tom Morgan, who suffers with Asperger’s syndrome and Tourettes syndrome.

The conditions cause him severe anxiety and render him incapable of interacting normally with women.

As women everywhere caused a social media frenzy over young Mr Morgan’s good looks and humility, the show was praised for raising awareness of conditions such as Asperger’s and autism.

However, for some participants on the show, first date encounters do not go as well as they did for Mr Morgan and can make for uncomfortable viewing.

Mrs Burrow has been working with disabled people in the Barrow and District area for more than 35 years.

She said: “It’s so important to remember never to judge a book by it’s cover.

“I am disabled, but I hope when people meet me they can look at me and simply see Margaret, rather than somebody who uses a wheelchair and wears a neck brace.

“I really think the show ridicules and devalues these people in the way that it points out the subjects’ disabilities and it is incredibly sad that the show’s producers are making money out of exploiting these people.

“It is a very controversial subject and if the show has managed to raise positive awareness for disabilities such as Asperger’s and autism then obviously it has its values.

“I am glad to hear that some people have got a good experience out of the show, but I know some people around this area who suffer from similar conditions and I would not like to see them made fun of television in that way.”