Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard on This Morning
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This Morning comes under fire over tiger toy segment days after man is mauled to death in zoo

"A bit tasteless"

This Morning has faced criticism over a toy tiger segment, days after a man died at Yorkshire Wildlife Park.

Viewers criticised the timing of the item on X after the zoo tragedy.

The ITV programme featured the toy during a guide to screen-free Christmas presents for children.

Alice Beer, Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard on This Morning
Alice Beer showed off some of the toys you can get this Christmas (Credit: ITV)

This Morning viewers question tiger toy segment

One viewer questioned whether this was the right week to put the item on television.

“Not sure that tiger toy is the best thing to wheel out in front of the cameras this week.”

Another wrote: “Thought the tiger toy was a bit tasteless tbh.”

A third commented: “As if they have a toy tiger after what happened to that poor man at the zoo.”

“Bad week to promote tiger toys,” another said.

Tiger toy on This Morning
The tiger toy in question (Credit: ITV)

Alice Beer presents Christmas toys on This Morning

Alice Beer was in the studio to introduce The Entertainer’s top 10 screen-free presents for Christmas.

Presenters Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard were shown the selection, which included the interactive tiger.

During the demonstration, Alice explained that the toy begins as a cub and grows into a fully grown tiger. Children can also feed the toy.

The segment aired five days after William’s death at the Doncaster wildlife park.

Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard on This Morning
The segment didn’t go down well (Credit: ITV)

William Chapman died at Yorkshire Wildlife Park

William Chapman, 23, died at the park on Saturday, 10 October. He was a former child actor and performer.

Emergency services were called shortly after 1.30pm, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Visitors, including families with children, were at the park when the incident happened.

An inquest at Doncaster Coroner’s Court heard that William had climbed two fences before entering the tiger’s enclosure.

The tiger involved in the fatal incident was named Altai.

Coroner’s officer Caitlin Brookes described how the animal approached William after he entered its enclosure. She told the hearing that the subsequent contact caused multiple traumatic injuries, which rapidly led to his death. A post-mortem examination gave a provisional cause of death involving multiple traumatic injuries and animal interaction.

The hearing also heard that William’s stepfather identified him.

ED! has contacted ITV for comment.

Read more: This Morning viewers accuse Ben Shephard of ‘farting’ live on air: ‘He’s the culprit’

This Morning airs on weekdays from 10am on ITV1 and ITVX. 

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Robert Emlyn Slater
Freelance Writer

This article was produced with the assistance of AI technology to synthesise source reporting and structured data. It has been reviewed, edited, and fact-checked by our human editorial team before publication.