This Morning presenter Cat Deeley was left fighting back tears during a segment on Grenfell Tower during today’s edition of the show (Wednesday, June 18).
The This Morning star, 48, grew emotional during a segment on the Grenfell Tower fire on the programme.
This Morning star Cat Deeley emotional during Grenfell Tower segment
Saturday (June 14) marked the eighth anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire. The fire, which broke out in the West London tower block, led to 72 people dying, including 18 children.
During today’s show, Cat and Ben met a survivor of the fire, Marcio Gomez, whose son was sadly stillborn as a result of the fire. Journalist Peter Apps, who has written more than 1,000 articles on the tragedy, was also on the show.
Talking about the anniversary of the tragedy over the weekend, Marcio, who lived on the tower’s 21st floor, said it was “very emotional”, especially in light of plans to demolish the tower.
He explained that a neighbour banged on their door when the fire broke out in the early hours, waking them up. Initially, they stayed put following advice from the fire brigade. However, an hour into the fire, Marcio and his family realised they needed to get moving when they understood how “bad it was”.
Cat fights back tears
Marcio described how the smoke in the building was “pitch black” and had you “gagging” if you breathed it in.
After attempting to evacuate twice, on the third attempt, Marcio, his family and his neighbour and her family finally managed to make it out of the tower.
However, after being rushed to the hospital, doctors told him that they had had to make a heartbreaking decision, to save his wife’s life over her unborn baby’s.
It’s heartbreaking to hear what you’ve been through.
Marcio and Cat were left fighting back tears at this point. The This Morning host leaned over and placed a comforting hand on Marcio’s knee.
“It’s heartbreaking to hear what you’ve been through, you and all those other families,” Ben said. “The most painful thing about all of it was that it was preventable.”
Peter, the journalist, then went on to explain how the tragedy was “preventable”. “It was something that should never have happened.”
Later, Marcio said that the organisations that provided the tower with products that were “unsafe” need to be held accountable.
He also added that he didn’t agree with the decision to demolish the tower. He added that the memorial for the tower needs to have “height” so that people can still see it.
Viewers concerned
During the segment, Cat seemed very emotional. Her voice trembled and she was seen fighting back tears, especially when Marcio told his story. Fans of the show noticed this and took to Twitter to remark on it.
“Did Cat know someone in it? She’s getting very upset,” one viewer tweeted. “My heart is breaking watching the Grenfell survivors on #ThisMorning eight years with no justice or compensation,” another said.
“Aw this poor man on @thismorning poor @catdeeley looks so emotional,” a third wrote.
Read more: This Morning hosts fight back tears as they share emotional tribute to co-star
This Morning airs on weekdays from 11am on ITV1 and ITVX.
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