Loose Women presenter Sunetra Sarker came under fire after making an insensitive remark during an appearance from Coronation Street’s Simon Gegson.
The cobbles legend, who plays Steve McDonald in the long running ITV soap, had intimated that he had a panic attack before the show. However that didn’t prevent Sunetra making reference to it later on in the chat and viewers were not happy about it.
Horrified fans took to X to air their shock at her remark to the star. “You might have a panic attack”. Did she really just say that to Simon Gregson after he opened up about having one before the show? F***ing hell. #LooseWomen,” one fumed.
“Did Sunetra really just say that to Steve!? #loosewomen,” another queried in disbelief.
Simon was specifically appearing on the show to raise awareness about mental health and bravely opened up about his 20-year anxiety battle during the chat.
Sunetra Sarker was a panellist on the latest edition of Loose Women (Image: ITV)
He revealed he nearly pulled out of the appearance confessing he suffered a panic attack shortly beforehand.
Opening up about his experience he said: “It all came to a head in 2015, I kept having anxiety attacks, panic attacks.
“Which is so bizarre because I’ve been having them all day today. I was like, ‘there’s no way I can go on.’
The dad of three said his impetus for adressing his issues came after it started affecting his family. “When I had children and they were noticing it and they were getting anxious, I thought, ‘I’ve passed it on. It’s like a cold – I’ve given it to them,'” he said.
Simon Gregson opened up about his mental health issues on Loose Women (Image: ITV)
The 50-year-old admitted producers on the ITV soap called in a doctor to help him as his condition came to a head. He also spoke about how he had to visit a psychiatrist because his mental health was causing him to believe he was suffering from mystery illnesses.
Speaking on ITV’s Lorraine he said: “In 2015 it came to its head and I didn’t know what it was. I had heart scans and brain scans, they thought I had vertigo then we went back to the beginning and my GP figured out that I had an anxiety disorder. I’d get numb fingers, tunnel vision, feel sick, dizzy. Completely debilitating.”
His Coronation Street character also suffered similar symptoms when he struggled with depression in a 2014 storyline and Simon has admitted he struggled to act out the panic attacks “despite having 10, 11, 12 a day” himself.
