There was an uncomfortable moment on ITV’s Good Morning Britain when host Kate Garraway unintentionally riled up singing legend Dionne Warwick.
The renowned 83-year-old singer appeared on Thursday, May 2, alongside hosts Kate and Richard Madeley to talk about her lasting career in the limelight and her future projects, which presently include performing at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival until May 6.
Fans of Warwick were left stunned by her enduring charisma during the discussion with the ‘Walk On By’ artist who has continued to influence generations – including rising star Doja Cat, who recently paid homage to the trailblazer in her own tune, ‘Paint The Town Red’.
However, Kate’s well-intentioned diplomacy seemed to fall flat when she attempted to subtly mention the singer’s age without offending her: “You shouldn’t mention a woman’s age but you’re in your eighties”, she said before being cut short by Warwick’s good-natured, yet exasperated retort: “I’m 83. You can say I’m 83.”
In response, Kate quickly recovered, complimenting: “83 and looking fabulous”, before allowing the interview to proceed as planned, reports the Mirror.
ITV viewers expressed pleasure in seeing Warwick in excellent form, taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, expressing their delight: “How nice to see Dionne Warwick on GMB”, one comment read in particular. However, eagle-eyed TV fans spotted that the veteran singer appeared to lose patience with the show hosts as the segment continued.
“Dionne Warwick looking like there’s a thousand things she rather be doing than speaking with Richard Madeley”, one amused viewer penned. “Completely ignored by the great Dionne Warwick”, another quipped, adding a crying laughing emoji.
However, a third social media user was shocked as they commented: “Why are they having so much trouble pronouncing Dionne Warwick’s name?”
Another said: “GMB, It was almost inevitable that these 2 overpaid useless [redacted] would upset Dionne Warwick.”
The ex-Masked Singer star Dionne once again found herself in an uncomfortable spot on Good Morning Britain. In a throwback to 2017, the soul icon had a similarly stiff exchange with Susanna Reid, Kate Garraway’s co-host.
The tension mounted when Dionne flatly refused to discuss her late cousin Whitney Houston, who tragically passed away in February 2012.
“We’re not going to discuss that, OK? That’s a bygone conclusion. We’re not discussing that, we’re here to discuss Dot Com”, Dionne declared firmly back then. “Let’s do that.”
The situation escalated when Susanna attempted to justify her inquiry, referencing a documentary about Whitney, but Dionne sharply reiterated her stance.
“I would just rather- first of all, it’s a very personal thing, and why would you guys even want to continue to hurt me? Because that does hurt.”
She continued, insisting the conversation move on: “Let’s just leave it there and go on to talking about Dot Com.”
Susanna attempted to defuse the situation by empathising with Dionne’s predicament, but the damage was done and Dionne remained upset. She insisted, “Can we leave it there? ” compelling Susanna and co-presenter Ben Shephard to issue an apology.
“Well, I’m sorry that that hurts and you’re absolutely right,” expressed Susanna. Meanwhile, Ben concurred: “That wasn’t our intention, Dionne, so apologies for that.”
Good Morning Britain airs on weekdays between 6am and 9am on ITV and ITVX.
