Good Morning Britain hosts Susanna Reid and Ed Balls came under fire from fans for their jokes about the Welsh language.
The presenting duo were mid-way through their breakfast show when they began discussing the renaming of Brecon Beacons National Park on Monday’s show.
Susanna, Ed and Ranvir Singh revealed what they thought of the new name – Bannau Brycheiniog – which had apparently been adopted for environmental reasons.
During the chat, all three broadcasters admitted they struggled to pronounce the park’s latest moniker and Susanna went as far as to say she didn’t understand the point of the change.
Laughing and giggling over its difficult pronunciation, viewers of the show were less than amused and took to Twitter to express their outrage.
One penned: ‘Turning off now becoming fed up with jokes about Welsh place names and the difficulty in pronouncing them. Dreadful clichés’.
Another wrote: ‘@GMB displaying some superb Xenophobia towards the welsh and insulting the language this morning. Can’t say I’m surprised though @susannareid100 [sic]’.
‘Treating the renaming f the Beacon beacons as Bannau Brycheiniog with jokey disdain and Mr Balls refusing to use it. Would you say this if it was any other country. Incredibly insensitive [sic],’ was a social media user’s response to the segment.
An angry fan further noted: ‘Casual racism on display this morning. #BannauBrycheiniog [sic]’.
They were chatting about the Welsh name change as the park was due to adopt its new title from today.
The decision was promoted by actor Michael Sheen and bosses of the park urged that the move would aid in the celebration and promotion of the area’s heritage and culture.
In an attempt to address more serious environmental challenges, the park is also undergoing massive changes in how it is managed.
The new title meaning ‘the peaks of Brychan’s kingdom’ should be pronounced ban-aye bruch-ein-iog.
Metro.co.uk contacted GMB reps for comment and Brecon Beacons Tourism for comment.
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV.
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