Aussie tourist ecstatic to try a Tesco meal deal later forced to apologise

An Aussie tourist, who tried out a Tesco meal deal for the first time, has been forced to apologise for her "odd choices".

Katie Treasure, 23, sparked backlash over her £3.40 lunch after sharing the experience on TikTok.

The viral clip, which racked up over a million views, showed Katie, who says meal deals are not offered in her native country, bemused by the vast array of food and drink items on offer.

But her final choice of lemon-flavoured water, a duck wrap and eggs from the shelves of a Tesco in Portsmouth, Hants, unleashed a torrent of criticism on TikTok.

One commented: "All the hype for the meal deal to get water and eggs, you need to get the expensive smoothies to make it worth it."

Another said: "That is a rogue meal deal selection."

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The comments kept rolling in and it got so bad that Katie had to issue an apology in her following video.

Katie, originally from Sydney, works as an English language assistant in a school in Valencia, Spain.

She was visiting the country as she was spending time with her boyfriend's family over Christmas.

She explained: "I was going round the corner to the local Tesco to pick up a meal deal for my boyfriend and I for a quick lunch.

"I thought I would film the experience as my TikTok page is all about the new experiences I have while traveling abroad.

"I'd never tried a meal deal prior to this but I had heard lots great things about them from my British friends so I was keen to give them a go.

"I filmed exploring the selection of options they had in the supermarket, and my experience discovering out how it all worked.

"Then finally at the end, I showed the choice I made for myself!"

@katie_treasuree/TikTok

According to Katie, meal deals like this don't exist in Australia and anything similar is few and far between.

"I was excited to try it because I had heard a lot about them from my friends who are from the UK, and my boyfriend who lives in the UK too." She said.

Katie said she didn't expect her video to blow up, and it is now clear to her that meal deals "are a bit of a unique hallmark of British culture and that people have some strong opinions about how it should and shouldn't be done".

"In fairness, when I got home my boyfriend did point out that eggs were a bit of a weird choice, but I didn't expect it to blow up quite as it did."

After posting a follow-up video of herself issuing an apology to those who took her meal deal choices quite seriously, she went back to the same shop to "redeem herself" and get a proper selection.

"I didn't realise my choices would elicit such strong reactions from people," she said.

"I also didn't realise there was a bit of a formula to finessing the meal deal - ie. trying to purchase the most expensive items.

"So I felt if my intention was to properly get the experience of trying a British meal deal, I should likely do it their way."

Unfortunately, Katie's meal deal adventures will have to be put on hold for the foreseeable future as she has now returned to Spain.

But to appease the UK TikTok community, she made sure to get a meal deal while in the airport.

"I started my meal deal journey right at the end of my trip to the UK.

"However, I did manage to purchase one at Boots at the airport right before getting on my plane back to Spain.

"I also have plans to be back in England later this year, and will for sure be trying more meal deal combinations."

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