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Viewers anger as Celebrity Gogglebox appears to break social distancing rules

Bez and Shaun Ryder of The Happy Monday's on Celebrity Gogglebox (Credit: Channel 4)
Bez and Shaun Ryder of The Happy Monday's on Celebrity Gogglebox (Credit: Channel 4)

Channel 4 show Gogglebox is facing fresh criticism after latest celebrity edition of the show included well-known pairs who do not live together.

According to recent changes to lockdown rules, people can meet family members and pals providing the get-together is outside and people stay two metres apart.

However, people took to social media yesterday to point out Celebrity Gogglebox participants in Friday’s (5 June) episode were inside one another’s homes.

Read more: Eamonn Holmes fury as Gogglebox bosses remove clip of him discussing tragic death of his father

While some of the participants, such Ruth Langsford and Eomonn Holmes and Stacey Soloman and Joe Swash, are couples who live together, many others, such as Jools Holland and Vic Reeves and Happy Mondays members Bez and Shaun Rider, are pals who live separately.

One angry viewer who had a few questions tweeted: “What is Gyles Brandreth doing with Maureen Lipman in the same house? Jools Holland and Vic Reeves, are they married? Social distancing?

“Why am I sitting here alone when I could invite a friend around! Did anybody think this show through?”

Another said: “I'm watching Gogglebox however unsure how these celebs are following social distancing guidelines......are we allowed in each others houses if we have a camera filming our moves?”

One fan wrote: “Unless Vic Reeves and Jools Holland live together, I can't see how they (and many others) are adhering to social distancing.”

Someone else said: “After all the fury over Dominic Cummings, can Channel 4 explain the social distancing policies they applied in the filming of celebrity gogglebox? As most of those in the show were simply not of the same household!”

It isn’t the first time the show has faced criticism for this issue.

Read more: Gogglebox hit with Ofcom complaints over social distancing

Last week Broadcasting regulator Ofcom received over 200 complaints about families who appear in the show not displaying social distancing.

An Ofcom spokesperson told The Sun Online: "We are assessing the complaints against our broadcasting rules, but are yet to decide whether or not to investigate."

Gogglebox is available to stream on More4 now.