This Morning drops Spin to Win energy bill prizes following backlash
ITV show was criticised after offering ‘energy’ and ‘household bills’ as prizes on game
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This Morning has dropped “energy bills” and “household bills” from the prizes on their Spin to Win game.
Presenters Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby returned to the ITV daytime show on Monday (5 September), where they introduced a newly revamped version of the game.
Half of the prizes on offer on the wheel would see the show cover four months of energy bills for the winner, presumably a reference to the cost of living crisis and the increasing energy price caps.
Schofield asked one caller if he was concerned about his bills, with the man replying: “Oh, major. I’ve got one of these pre-payment meters and it’s absolutely murder.”
Fortunately, the wheel ended up landing on energy bills, with the caller saying: “Oh my god, thank you. Fantastic. What a relief.”
However, viewers were shocked by the change, with many branding it “dystopian”. Writing in The Independent, columnist Emma Flint said that the game felt like “an episode of Squid Game”.
“You know the country’s f***ed when this show is offering to pay your energy bills as a prize on the Spin to Win wheel,” another commenter tweeted.
During Tuesday’s episode (6 September), the wheel was changed to read “household bills”, with the prize now changed to cover all household bills up to the value of £3,000.
Schofield addressed the criticism in the episode, asking: “I wonder how much of that they can complain about online” during the game. However, bills were no longer offered as a prize on Wednesday’s show (7 September).
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Instead, the prizes were offered in intervals of £800, £1,000 and £2,000, with Schofield hinting that the money can be used on anything, including energy bills.
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