FURIOUS telly fans flood Ofcom with calls every week to vent their anger – but every year there are certain TV moments that leave viewers raging even more than usual.
In 2025, the TV standards regulator received an avalanche of complaints for everything from reality TV bullying to daytime telly migrant rows and dangerous entertainment show stunts.
This year the biggest offender topped the charts with 3, 547 complaints – can you guess who it was?
Here, we count down the top ten shows on the naughty list…
10. GMB’S WW2 drama
Last month, Adil Ray and Kate Garraway interviewed World War II veteran Alec Penstone on GMB to tie in with Remembrance Day celebrations – but the segment racked up 452 complaints.
The 100 year-old former soldier admitted he didn’t think the sacrifices he and his fellow war heroes had made for the country had been worth it.
read more on Ofcom complaints
He said: “I can see in my mind’s eye the rows and rows of white stones of all the hundreds of my friends and everybody else that gave their lives for what? The country of today. No, I’m sorry, the sacrifice wasn’t worth the result that it is now.”
Adil then chipped in “What do you mean by that, though?”
And when Alec said he felt the country was “downright worse” now, the interview was quickly wrapped up.
Kate did add: “I want you to know that all the generations that have come since, including me and my children, are so grateful for your bravery and all that for service personnel.
But many viewers were unhappy with how the interview was handled and felt Alec was rushed, while others accused Adil of not being sympathetic.
“Bless him! Give that gentleman as much airtime as he wants! Let him keep chatting!” one ranted on X.
“Why was Adil trying to start an argument there?” fumed another.
9. This Morning’s migrant controversy
Rylan Clark ignited a firestorm during a frank conversation on This Morning about migrants back in September.
After praising immigrants for saving his mum’s life in hospital, he went on to went on to criticise the process of putting migrants in four-star hotels as “absolutely insane”.
He explained: “That’s the narrative we’re being fed. Here’s the iPad. Here’s the NHS in reception of your hotel.
“Here’s three meals a day. Here’s a games room in the hotel. Have a lovely time and welcome.”
While many supported Rylan’s views on social media, there was also a significant backlash too with some demanded he be sacked from the show- and 576 angry viewers complained to Ofcom.
8. Emmerdale’s ‘darkest ever plot’
737 soap fans raced to complain about an episode of Emmerdale that aired in November, which explored themes of modern day slavery and grooming.
After teen April Windsor was sold for sex by evil pair Ray and Celia, a special standalone episode showed a dark new twist as it was revealed Bear Wolf was being kept as a slave by the villainous duo.
Bear has disappeared from the village three months ago and the grim plot showed how his life had fallen apart as he was held captive and forced to work on a turkey farm.
Many viewers accused the soap of going “too dark” and begged for happier storylines.
But star Joshua Richards, who plays Bear defended the plot, saying: I think it’s important that we’re not afraid to show these things and, as a continuing drama, I think we’re fortunate that we can highlight these things so that the public can be made aware.
7. BGT’s horrifying stunt
A disturbing act on Britain’s Got Talent’s 22 February episode sent viewers into meltdown, with 771 of them making official complaints.
One particular act, Auzzy Blood, upset families watching at home thanks to a routine where he fed giant corkscrews through his nose and out of his mouth.
Dressed in all black and gothic make-up, the performer pulled creepy faces as he perform his daring, grisly act.
Amanda Holden was seen squealing as the act unfolded, and the studio audience could barley watch either.
Fans branded it “the most disgusting act ever” to grace their screens, and when Auzzy returned later in the series to perform a knife swallowing act, many commented that the knives were “surely illegal in the UK”.
6. Sabrina causes a Brit of a fuss
The Brit Awards is no stranger to controversial performances and Sabrina Carpenter made quite the impact when she took to the stage this year.
Performing her hits Espresso and Bed Chem dressed in red lingerie on a heart-shaped bed, surrounding by equally scantily clad female dancers.
One moment was even cut from the TV broadcaster as Sabrina simulated a sex act on a male dancer dressed as a King’s Guard.
But even without that spicy sequence airing on telly, her performance still generated 825 complaints from viewers who felt it was too risque for a primetime audience.
And it wasn’t just Sabrina in hot water – some of the complaints were also related to Charli XCX’s raunchy outfit too.
5. Celebrity Big Brother’s homophobia scandal
The star-studded house generated the most complaints of its most recent series for the April 9 episode, which saw Mickey Rourke direct a homophobic rant at JoJo Siwa.
The Hollywood hellraiser received a formal warning after concerning comments he made to the American singer, who at the time identified as a lesbian.
“Do you like girls or boys?” he asked her, out of the blue during a conversation about the smoking area.
JoJo replied: “Me? Girls. My partner is non-binary.”
Mickey, who was up for eviction at the time, then said: “If I stay longer than four days, you won’t be gay anymore.”
He then later referred to her as “that lesbian” when discussing nominating her, which JoJo overheard – leaving her in tears.
Mickey was later removed from the house by producers after further ‘inappropriate language and offensive behaviour’.
4. Today’s bad day
Sky News’ Today With Samantha Washington sparked 1,270 complaints on 7 June.
Viewers objected to a presenter’s comments about the Madleen vessel, which was attempting to deliver aid to Gaza and had activist Greta Thunberg on board.
During an interview with Activist Thiago Avila, some viewers felt the host misrepresented the peaceful nature of the freedom flotilla’s mission
Samantha said: “What you’re actually carrying is really a drop in the ocean to what people in Gaza need, so really it’s a symbolic mission rather than a humanitarian one.”
Theo argued back: “It’s a humanitarian mission. There’s a very big effort to be bigger than what we are.”
3. Headliners makes headlines
GB News’ late night newspaper round-up show Headliners found itself making the news itself after landing in hot water.
During the broadcast on January 22, host Josh Howie was discussing a US bishop’s plea to Donald Trump to “show mercy” to gay, lesbian, and transgender children.
Howie then added, “That includes paedos”.
The incident saw 1,347 complaints to Ofcom, with complainants accusing Howie of perpetuating “longstanding”, “toxic” and
“dangerous tropes” relating to the LGBTQ+ community.
After more than six months of investigation, Ofcom concluded that GB News breached the broadcasting code with the programme in question.
Prior to Ofcom’s decision however, GB News pulled Headliners off the air for good, claiming ‘low ratings’ were the reason for the axe.
2. Vanessa’s breastfeeding backlash
Vanessa Feltz’s Channel 5 show only debuted on the airwaves in the Spring, but by June it had already received the second highest number of complaints for a TV show this year.
1,986 complaints were logged after furious viewers slammed the switchboards in anger over a segment the show did on breastfeeding.
The controversy came after Vanessa’s guest, designer Karen Millen, called breastfeeding mothers “selfish”.
Speaking about mums who choose to breastfeed their kids at age three and above, Millen said: “There’s no benefit, is there, for a child to be breastfed beyond six months really. I think it’s quite a selfish thing on the mother’s part.”
“I just think that’s not good emotionally for that child. I mean, what does that child do later in life? The attachment – like you say it becomes an addiction and an addiction for that child too because they only know the boob. It’s just not normal, is it? I’m sorry, I find it very weird.”
Millen later apologised for her comments in a statement.
She explained: “The question was aimed at a three-year-old being breastfed and my thoughts on that and my answers reflected that, not the subject of breastfeeding. And as a woman to women, I do respect your choices and I do want to support you.”
1. Love Island bullying row
The ITV2 dating show was by far and away the most complained about TV show of the year.
Over the course of the most recent series, more than 15k complaints were made to Ofcom, but the single most complained about moment was an episode where viewers claimed Islander Shakira Khan was being bullied.
The 24 July episode in question saw a record 3,547 complaints, emerging after Shakira was left sobbing in the villa after the Grafties.
Fans claimed that Shakira had been left ‘broken’ from ‘abusive’ behaviour in the infamous villa, and even accused producers of treating her poorly.
One fan wrote online: “Watching Shakira be bullied by producers has been a hard watch. Megan and Helena have said some terrible things and behaved in a disgusting manner but it is never shown.
The drama culminated in Shakira breaking down in tears and threatening to leave.
It came as she struggled in her relationship with Conor and was having feelings for Harry, who has also pursued a romance with Helena Ford in the villa.
Despite the complaints, however, Ofcom rejected them.
“We recognise that emotionally charged or confrontational scenes can upset some viewers,” a spokesperson said.
“But, in our view, negative behaviour in the villa was not shown in a positive light, and contestants were seen supporting or apologising to each other.
“We also took into account that the format of this reality show is well-established, and viewers would expect to see highs and lows as relationships and friendships are tested.”
