Good Morning Britain viewers slam Richard Madeley for referring to guest’s HIV diagnosis as AIDS: ‘My mouth just dropped’

Good Morning Britain viewers were less than impressed after host Richard Madeley referred to a guest’s HIV diagnosis as AIDS.

During Wednesday’s episode, former rugby star Gareth Thomas’ ex-partner Ian Baum discussed the settlement of a legal case he filed against Thomas.

The former Wales and Lions captain, 48, had been sued for £150,000 in damages by Baum, who accused Thomas of hiding his diagnosis during their relationship.

He also said Thomas ‘failed to take reasonable care’ to ensure he did not pass it on.

Reflecting on the moment he found the ‘antiviral pill’, Baum told GMB presenters Susanna Reid and Madeley: ‘I went and got tested there and then, literally an hour of finding the pill I was told I had the virus.’

Madeley added: ‘You were HIV positive.. you had AIDS.’

Gareth Thomas’ ex-partner discussed the legal settlement (Picture: ITV)

Mr Thomas revealed he was HIV positive in 2019 (Picture: PA)

Baum quickly interjected: ‘No.. we don’t use the word AIDS. It’s HIV, because they caught it so early it’ll always be undetectable. We caught it early, but he [Thomas] hadn’t told me.

Viewers quickly called out Madeley’s mix-up after claiming that Baum looked uncomfortable.

‘Yes @susannareid100 there is still a stigma around HIV, especially when Richard refers to it as aids Which clearly made Ian uncomfortable!’ one person tweeted.

‘My mouth just dropped when Richard said Ian has aids when he told him he has HIV. I’m livid!’ another added.

Thomas told the world of his diagnosis back in September 2019, sharing a video on his Twitter account explaining a tabloid newspaper had found out about his status and revealed the news to his parents.

‘When I was told that my parents knew I had HIV, and I hadn’t had the opportunity to tell them… I love my parents more than anything and I didn’t want to worry them, I didn’t want them to think I was going to die like I thought,’ he told the Loose Women panel.

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‘I had to try and calm them all down, I had to try and get them to understand what living with HIV was. And at that point, I learnt to live with it but I hadn’t learnt to accept it myself.

‘It was a struggle for me to expect someone else to accept it when I was struggling to accept it myself.’

Metro.co.uk has reached out to Richard Madeley’s reps for comment.

Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV.

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‘I’m livid.’