DUP politician says gay people shouldn't be shown on TV before 9pm

A DUP politician and former health minister Jim Wells has said that he refuses to watch Strictly Come Dancing in case he sees same-sex couples dancing.

Appearing on ITV's Good Morning Britain, Jim Wells said that he believes that the BBC shouldn't let two people of the same sex dance together after the broadcaster said it was 'completely open' to same-sex couples competing in the future.

Morgan and Reid clashed with Mr Wells, who claimed:

You’ve had a busy week, you sit down with the family and you watch pure entertainment.

The last thing you want is to be challenged or to be asked deep intellectual questions.

In response to his views, Morgan and Reid asked him what time he thinks that gay people should be allowed on the television, to which he responded:

Exactly the same time as the BBC thought two years ago, 9pm.

Piers Morgan then started to up the ante with the questioning and said:

What are you like at parties? Do you ever dance?

Mr Wells responded that he rarely dances in public, to which Morgan said:

When you danced and men came on the dancefloor, how did you feel? At what point did you feel like a man entering your orbit became a problem for you?

Reid also challenged Mr Wells' views, wondering if he'd ever seen children dance together in public.

Have you ever seen children dancing? They dance together, girls dance together, boys dance together, there’s nothing challenging about it.

Your concern is only about seeing gay couples – it’s not about children.

Then, Morgan dropped the bombshell, telling Mr Wells:

I think you’re just an old bigoted dinosaur, and you feel challenged because you don’t like the idea of scary gay people around you.

After the politician claimed that he'd been insulted by Morgan, he responded:

I’m not insulting you, I’m insulting your bigotry, which is irrational, inconsistent, makes no sense whatsoever, your favourite shows have loads of gay presenters on, there’s a gay judge on Strictly, you think that’s fine but you won’t have two people – who may not even be gay – dancing together.

Last week, the BBC said that Strictly is an 'inclusive show' and that they're 'proud to have featured same-sex dancing amongst the professional dancers in group numbers in previous series'. A spokesman for the show added:

We are completely open to the prospect of including same-sex pairings between our celebrities and professional dancers in the future, should the opportunity arise.

Social media users were quick to praise Morgan and Reid on how they handled the interview.

HT Good Morning Britain

More: These 6 stories of homophobic abuse should be a wake-up call for everyone

More: Homophobic people have a higher chance of being gay, according to science