Kirstie Allsopp has shared an ominous picture of an empty Tube carriage on a weekday morning as she warned it ‘can’t be a good thing’ while seemingly calling out work-from-home culture.
However, her tweet backfired as X users pointed out that ‘most people were already at work’ by the time the Location, Location, Location presenter took the train at 9.20am on a Tuesday morning.
On July 1, Kirstie, 53, posted a photo of a ‘totally empty tube carriage’ on a Central Line train on X, formerly known as Twitter, and captioned the post: ‘Don’t quite know what it says but it can’t be a good thing.’
In the comments section, she said the photo was taken after Mile End station, as the train presumably headed east towards Epping on the hottest day of the year so far.
The presenter’s tweet quickly went viral, with over five million views and 1,300 comments at the time of writing, but most of them were critical as Kirstie hit back at the barrage of ‘abuse’ she faced in response.
Several X users pointed out that Kirstie had missed rush hour and most Londoners were probably already at their desks by the time she boarded the train at 9.20am.
One comment read: ‘It’s 9.20, most people start work at 9am. Plus you’re going the opposite way to the majority going into work.’
Another X user agreed, adding that Central Line trains from Mile End were ‘packed like sardines’ at 7.30am.
Kirstie Allsopp has shared an ominous picture of an empty Tube carriage on a weekday morning as she warned it ‘can’t be a good thing’ while seemingly calling out work-from-home culture
The photo, shared on X/Twitter, showed a ‘totally empty’ carriage on a Central Line train
However, her tweet backfired as X users pointed out that ‘most people were already at work’ by the time the Location, Location, Location presenter took the train at 9.20am on a Tuesday morning
A third person noted: ‘You clearly have never worked in the City. I would have done two hours of work at my desk by that time.’
Another quipped: ‘[The photo says] No one was late for work?’
‘Kirstie most people have jobs,’ one comment read.
Several others suggested lots of people were likely working from home on the hottest day of the year, as temperatures in London rose to 34.7C on July 1.
BBC Radio 4 presenter David Aaronovitch replied asking: ‘Too hot?’
In response, Kirstie listed all those who don’t have the privilege of working from home, writing: ‘Not for me or our crew, or police officers, or nurses, supermarket workers, or cabbies, and all the other people who don’t get paid to work from home or don’t take days off when it’s bloody uncomfortable.’
Another X user listed all the possible reasons the carriage was empty, adding factors like ‘annual leave’ and the fact that lots of people ‘walk/get the bus when it’s hot’ because the Central Line doesn’t have air conditioning.
‘What’s even the implication here?’ one person questioned Kirstie’s tweet. ‘Can it not just be a coincidence? You’ve already got several factors that would mean fewer people – the time, the direction, the location – why read anything more into it?’
Her tweet, which has over 1,300 comments at the time of writing, drew mixed reactions
Some, however, appeared to agree with the broadcaster as one X user replied: ‘Working from home has killed all the sectors that support city life.
‘Serious consequences for the economy.’
After her tweet blew up online, Kirstie reposted some of the nastier messages she’d received in response as the broadcaster noted ‘Twitter just isn’t fun anymore’ while condeming the ‘constant abuse’ she endured online.
Replying to one X user who questioned whether Kirstie ‘ever had a proper job’, she said ‘I’ll take no lectures on not understanding the world of work’ after having taken the Tube to work every day for five years.
She also pointed out ‘there are many reasons an empty Tube’ is a worrying economical sign, questioning why there were no tourists or people who work weekends ‘having Tuesday off and going to Stratford’.
When someone suggested Kirstie, who is the eldest daughter of the late Lord Charles Hindlip, ‘wouldn’t know that’ most people get to work before 9am, she replied the debate was ‘not worth it anymore’.
Yesterday marked the hottest day of 2025 as temperatures rose past the 30C-mark in many places in the midst of a heatwave.
Kirstie’s post comes after the TV host revealed how she once received a random FaceTime from an ex-househunter she had helped on Location, Location, Location.
After her tweet blew up online, Kirstie reposted some of the nastier messages she’d received in response as the broadcaster noted ‘Twitter just isn’t fun anymore’ while condeming the ‘constant abuse’ she endured online
The property broadcaster, 53, starred on 25 Years of Location, Location, Location with her co-host and longtime friend, Phil Spencer, 55, in May.
The pair were discussing some of the couples they had helped since the Channel 4 programme first aired in 2000.
In this time, Kirstie and Phil have carried out 469 searches, viewed 1,810 homes and been trusted with more than £176,000,000 of money from house hunters.
Kirstie reflected on the episode where she attempted to find Ruth and Anna a flat the week after the Brexit result. The sisters ended up losing out on the property due to the level of uncertainty that came with leaving the European Union.
However, Kirstie divulged that she actually negotiated the apartment they bought a year after they starred on the show, in 2017.
She said: ‘We lost out on the property we ended up bidding on, a year later I negotiated the purchase of the flat that they finally bought. I always remember that because I always say to everyone don’t forget, we’re always there for you.’
Kirstie then revealed that every home buyer that goes on the show has hers and Phil’s personal mobile number – and she once received an unexpected drunk call from a past Location, Location, Location participant.
She said: ‘Our househunters have our telephone number. I always say “Don’t call when drunk!”‘
But being able to call the hosts at any time appears to get you brownie points in your friendship group – and one intoxicated ex-participant decided to put it to the test.
Kirstie said: ‘It doesn’t always happen, but someone did call me once from the races, FaceTimed me [and said] “Look here I am I wanted to prove to everyone that I had your number'”.’
