Rylan Clark returned to This Morning on Thursday after his controversial immigration statement
Rylan Clark returned to This Morning on Thursday following his immigration crisis rant while hosting the show on Wednesday.
During the discussion segment on the ITV show, the TV host said: “This country is built on immigration. Legal immigration — a lot of the nurses, the doctors that have saved my mum’s life have come over here from other countries.
“They’re living a great life, they’re paying into this tax system, they’re helping this country thrive. I find it absolutely insane that all these people are risking their lives coming across the Channel. And when they get here, it does seem, and I think this is why a lot of Labour voters as well are saying there’s something wrong, it feels like, ‘Welcome, come on in’.
“That’s the narrative we’re being fed. 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 and welcome.”
When the star returned to present Thursday’s show with Josie Gibson, he didn’t directly address the comments, but his colleagues couldn’t resist making a jibe. When Ashley James questioned the statistics in a story about birth rates, Josie made a little dig.
Rylan and Josie on Thursday’s show (Image: ITV)
Looking over at Rylan she said ” Carol Vorderman over here might know.” Rylan then quickly added: “I’m not getting involved.”
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Following his comments on immigration, Rylan took to his Instagram to double down on his opinion. He said: “You can be pro immigration and against illegal routes. You can support trans people and have the utmost respect for women.
“You can be heterosexual and still support gay rights. The list continues. Stop with this putting everyone in a box exercise and maybe have conversations instead of shouting on twitter.”
When he made the comments on air, Rylan said he knew he wouldn’t please everyone with his comments.
He said: “There are people that have lived here all their lives that are struggling. They’re homeless. Let’s not even discuss our homeless. There are people living on the streets, veterans, all of this. Let me be honest, everyone’s going to have an opinion about this and you’re going to upset someone.”
“Something major needs to be done about this. The money that it’s costing us, the amount of people that are in this country that we have no idea who they are, what they’ve done, what they’re capable of – and clearly we see a lot of it in the press at the moment. Not all, but some, what some are doing to people in this country.”
He added: “How can it be that if I turn up at Heathrow Airport as a British citizen and I’ve left my passport in Spain, I’ve got to stand at that airport and won’t be let in. But if I arrive on a boat from Calais, I get taken to a four-star hotel? If I went to Spain, without one, I wouldn’t be let in. So how come if you turn up on a small boat you are.”
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