THE dad of a stabbed-to-death teen said last night he was “horrified” at I’m A Celebrity Unpacked host Joel Dommett joking about “shanking” on air.
Joel used the term, a slang term for knifing, on Tuesday’s episode which is still available on ITVX.
Ant and Dec laughed when he said “If someone stole my Haribo, I’d shank them” before asking: “Is that OK to say on telly?”
Ant replied: “Not really” and Dec told him he had “overstepped the mark”.
Joel apologised on air but Martin Cosser, whose son Charlie, 17, was murdered in a knife attack said his comment was “reckless”.
He said: “Charlie died by losing every milligram of blood in his body — a ruptured bowel, ruptured spleen, he’d been stabbed in the heart.
“He had two traumatic cardiac arrests and died of irreversible brain damage.
“There’s nothing to joke about with knife crime. There really isn’t.”
Charlie, of Milford, Surrey, was stabbed at a party in July, 2023.
Yura Varybrus, then 16, got 16 years for his murder.
Last night Joel Dommett said: “I would like to once again apologise to anyone offended by the language used in Tuesday’s show.
“I realised the error in the moment and immediately apologised live on air.
“This was not a pre-written joke and I would never make light of such a serious issue as knife crime.”
An ITV Spokesperson said: “We would apologise to anyone offended by the language used in Tuesday’s show.
“Joel recognised this unfortunate choice of language in the moment and immediately apologised to viewers.”
Patrick Green, CEO of The Ben Kinsella Trust, said “I am sure that when Joel made this comment, he was not intending to cause offence or trivialise knife crime, as indicated by his immediate apology.
“However, it does highlight how knife crime has become so ingrained in our society that it has entered everyday language, when in reality it is something we should strongly oppose and never joke about.
“ Knife crime is not a trivial matter—it takes young lives and leaves families and communities devastated.
“It is important that we continue to challenge this normalisation and ensure that the seriousness of the issue is never undermined.”
