Eamonn Holmes and and wife Ruth Langsford pose for photographers upon arrival at the Olivier Awards at the Royal Opera House in central London, Sunday, April 12, 2015.
Eamonn Holmes and and wife Ruth Langsford pose for photographers upon arrival at the Olivier Awards at the Royal Opera House in central London, Sunday, April 12, 2015.
Joel Ryan/Invision/AP
  • Eamonn Holmes the host of UK TV show "This Morning," compared guest Dr. Zoe Williams' hair to an alpaca.
  • "You just want to pet it, don't you? It's very alpaca-ish," he said to Williams, who's a Black woman.
  • Holmes tweeted an apology, calling the incident an "attempt at being humorous with my friend."
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UK TV host Eamonn Holmes sparked a backlash when he compared his guest's hair to an alpaca on live TV during his "This Morning" program.

Holmes, a white man, was interviewing Dr. Zoe Williams, a Black woman, on the show when he said her hair looked like an alpaca's. "You just want to pet it, don't you? It's very alpaca-ish," he said.

Williams laughed it off and told Holmes: "Don't touch my hair," while pointing a pen at the camera. Williams is a resident physician on ITV's "This Morning" show, covering nutrition.

Holmes' behavior triggered a backlash online, with social media users calling his comments on Williams' hair racist.

"Just a normal day on @ITV and @ThisMorning with Eamonn Holmes telling a woman of color her hair 'reminds him of an alpaca.'," wrote Twitter user Alan Turkington. His post has been retweeted more than 3,000 times.

UK Stand up comedian London Hughes also expressed incredulity at Holmes' comment, writing "'Your hair looks like an Alpaca today, I just want to pet it????!!' Tell me you've never had black friends, without saying you've never had black friends."

Holmes later published an apology on Twitter, saying he was "mortified" by the backlash writing: "If my attempt at being humorous with my friend @DrZoeWilliams was misjudged I am mortified and humbly apologize to anyone who was offended."

ITV did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider. Insider has also reached out to Dr. Zoe Williams for comment.

This is not the first time Holmes has gotten himself into hot water over controversial comments. The UK presenter called the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, "awful, woke, weak, manipulative" and "spoilt" in a January 2020 interview on TalkRADIO, sparking a backlash. He also called Markle and Prince Harry's interview with Oprah Winfrey in February of this year an "advertisement," according to the Express.

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