Phillip Schofield tears into influencer who flew to Dubai mid-pandemic to do ‘essential’ work
This Morning spoke to an influencer in Dubai who said she has been on an “essential work trip” since January it’s fair to say things got heated.
Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby have won plaudits from This Morning viewers after they tore into an influencer who claimed she travelled to Dubai for “essential work”.
Influencer Sheridan Mordew faced significant backlash from fans after she flew to Dubai ahead of the New Year, despite the surge in coronavirus cases in England.
Mordew appeared on ITV’s This Morning on Tuesday (26 January) where she tried to defend her actions – but Willoughby and Schofield were having none of it.
The influencer claimed that she had to travel to Dubai to continue her “Shape Up With Sher” business, which sees her share fitness routines with people on Instagram.
However, Phillip Schofield was quick to point out that most of her fitness videos filmed in Dubai were recorded inside her apartment – and therefore could have been made at home.
'My job is to motivate people'
Sheridan has been in Dubai since the start of January, on an 'essential work-trip’ to provide sunny content for her followers.
Following an online backlash, she joins us today to defend her position.
Watch the full chat 👉 https://t.co/1VuxanpnIc pic.twitter.com/KUNvs9aMx5
— This Morning (@thismorning) January 26, 2021
Mordew said: “The reason I came out to Dubai was purely for business, I’m a personal trainer – a lot of gyms have closed, so basically I took my online business over to Dubai and now I do things in my apartment.”
Schofield quickly replied: “It’s interesting you say you’re doing it in your apartment, a lot of the fitness stuff could have been filmed in your garage in Bolton – you don’t have to be in Dubai to do that.”
Phillip Schofield asked if riding a camel in Dubai is ‘essential work’.
The influencer promptly changed her defence, instead telling Schofield and Willoughby that she was force to travel abroad for her mental health”.
“Obviously during the second lockdown I was really struggling, a lot of my clients spend on me to bring them motivation and happiness,” she said.
“As the third lockdown was coming in I thought: “Well, my mental health is suffering, I’m not going to start something new just sitting in this house… I had this idea but I could not be bothered.”
She continued: “With my own struggles, I thought the only way I’m going to get out of this is if I get on the plane for essential travel and go to Dubai.”
Willoughby took Mordew to task on her comments, asking if she had considered that her Instagram snaps in the sun might actually be making her followers feel bad that they can’t go abroad.
Mordew admitted that she sometimes feels “guilty” for having travelled abroad, and she occasionally wonders if sharing images from her Dubai trip is the right thing to do.
Laughing, Phillip Schofield said: “If you go to Dubai and you don’t post then you have absolutely no excuse to go in the first place!”
Elsewhere in her interview, producers played a clip of Mordew riding a camel – a video that she shared on Instagram .
Schofield could be seen visibly laughing at the video, and asked Mordew: “That was essential, what you posted there was essential?”
Mordew defended the video, saying she also had videos on her Instagram of workouts, adding: “I think in a world where you be anything, be kind, and I think a lot of people forget about that.”
Willoughby went on to ask Mordew if she is being “kind” to frontline healthcare workers, who are currently stretched to breaking point as they try to cope with the current surge in coronavirus cases.
Mordew once again defended her actions, claiming that she travelled to Dubai to “motivate” her followers.
Her arguments did not convince people at home, with many taking to Twitter to lambast Mordew for flouting coronavirus restrictions.
Is she joking @thismorning?? Needed to do it for her own mental health? Don’t you think NHS workers/key workers would like a ‘break’ for their mental health? It’s embarrassing that these people call themselves ‘influencers’ 🤬🤯#ThisMorning— Amy B (@amyylouise_x) January 26, 2021
This influencer trying to justify going to Dubai to film workout videos in her flat and posing in a bikini by the pool on #ThisMorning is a joke. Pulling the mental health card as if none of the rest of the UK isn’t also struggling. The level of self absorbed arrogance is beyond— Jack Hardwick (@jackhardwick93) January 26, 2021
https://twitter.com/Kellie_Tallant/status/1354091221724127238
so a girl has gone on This Morning claiming “influencers are essential workers” umm so it’s essential you travel to a whole different country to film a workout …I’m sure all the doctors, nurses, carers, paramedics etc. will appreciate that right now 🙄#ThisMorning— 𝓐𝓵𝔂𝔁🥀 (@alyx_langley) January 26, 2021
Hearing about this "influencer" in Dubai for the sake of her mental health is making me absolutely livid. As a key worker myself, I'd love nothing more than a holiday instead picking up extra shifts and being exhausted. Get a real job! #ThisMorning
— Bronwyn Roberts (@Bronwyn19944) January 26, 2021
Lol this girl on #ThisMorning trying to explain why she’s in Dubai for ‘essential work’… wouldn’t we all want a holiday for our mental health?
Here’s a spade to help you dig your hole babe… pic.twitter.com/Li04BAlPOQ— Ashleigh Anne (@xAshleighAnne) January 26, 2021