Rylan Clark sparks fury after daytime TV rant accused of fueling anti migrant rhetoric

I’ve grown used to anti migrant rhetoric creeping into British life, but I never thought I’d see it on cosy daytime TV. Yesterday, on This Morning, presenter Rylan Clark gave his take on the migrant debate and left many shocked by what sounded like talking points from Reform UK or even Nigel Farage.

Rylan said that while “legal immigrants” help the country thrive, there is still a perception of an open door. He described it as: “Here’s the hotel, here’s the phone, here’s the iPad, here’s the NHS in reception of your hotel, here’s three meals a day, here’s a games room in the hotel, have a lovely time, welcome. And then there’s people that have lived here all their lives, that are struggling.”

The comments drew a swift backlash, particularly from his own fans. Yet rather than backtrack, Rylan doubled down on social media, saying: ‘You can still be pro-immigration and against illegal routes.’ He did not address the fact that many of his claims—such as migrants being routinely given iPads—were inaccurate, Metro reported.

Some may shrug and say celebrities spout opinions all the time. But this is different. This was This Morning – background viewing for millions, part of the national routine, a programme where people expect chatter about fashion or celebrity gossip, not sweeping generalisations about asylum seekers. When this kind of rhetoric slips into daytime TV, it risks normalising misinformation in the most trusted and ordinary of spaces.

Rylan isn’t just any presenter. He’s become a familiar face on British screens since his X Factor days, winning people over on Celebrity Big Brother, Strictly spin offs, Celebrity Gogglebox and now daytime TV.

He’s seen as a national treasure, someone viewers trust to share a cuppa with. So hearing him echo rhetoric more commonly heard at anti migrant rallies felt jarring, even like a betrayal.

It was as if that friendly neighbour you’ve always shared small talk with suddenly revealed they see foreigners as the enemy. And with Rylan’s profile, his words have the power to reach a whole new audience.

Whether he meant to or not, he became a megaphone for the kind of claims that pit struggling Britons against asylum seekers, allowing those really responsible for poverty and hardship to slip out of the frame.

He argued that “people who have lived here all their lives…are struggling. They are homeless…there are people living on the streets.”

That’s true and scandalous, but it isn’t the fault of asylum seekers in hotels. The cost of living crisis, soaring rents, and political decisions have left families desperate – not the presence of migrants arriving on small boats.

This is why his words are dangerous. They risk making anyone who looks or sounds “foreign” feel unsafe. They give cover to far right voices who thrive on division. The fact that Tommy Robinson, infamous for his extreme Islamophobic views, praised Rylan’s comments as “the most common sense ever spoken on ITV’s This Morning” should set alarm bells ringing.

In the end, Rylan’s outburst is less about him and more about the shift in our public conversation. What might once have been considered extreme is now creeping onto mainstream platforms, unchecked.

From flags painted on roundabouts to protests outside hotels and now inflammatory claims on breakfast TV, Britain is sliding into a climate of hostility that makes division feel like the new normal.