Vogue Williams says almost getting ‘cancelled’ gave her ‘bad anxiety’

The TV presenter was chatting about cancel culture with Joanne McNally on the latest episode of their hit podcast, My Therapist Ghosted Me.

The pair had been discussing the recent controversy surrounding This Morning hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield, who were accused of “skipping the queue” to see Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin lying in state.

The duo received a tsunami of backlash from social media users online after they were spotted paying their respects inside Westminster Hall without lining up with other members of the public.

Debating the drama, Vogue defended Phillip and Holly and added that cancel culture is “not funny” when you’re on the receiving end of it.

The 36-year-old said: “They got 50,000 signatures to get them off air. Come on, like seriously. I think Phil can take it; he’s turned off all his comments on Instagram but Holly hasn’t and I’m just like, ‘Turn them off!’

“I have been near cancelled before and as much as we laugh about it – it is not funny. I had such bad anxiety.

“It was just because you have people coming at you left, right and centre just sending all this abuse about something they don’t actually know the real truth about and you can’t just say anything.”

Joanne agreed: “I know, it’s horrible.”

Vogue didn’t go into detail about why she was “near cancelled” in the past, but it’s likely that she was referring to the overwhelming negative response she received after writing that she believed Muslim internment camps were a “grim necessity” in a 2017 column for the Sunday World.

In the piece, she said: “Powers to ban British jihadis from returning to the UK have been used for the first time and I fully agree with that.

“Anyone who leaves Britain and Ireland to fight alongside ISIS can stay out. I don't care what age or what their circumstances are. They have chosen their allegiance and while it may not have been what they expected, that’s tough luck.”

Later in the column, she noted that internment camps for radical extremists didn't work for IRA members in Northern Ireland when alleged paramilitaries were held without trial in makeshift camps but reasoned that "in today's case the terrorists cannot be negotiated with."

The Howth native was heavily criticised for her views, with many slamming her opinions as “oppressive” and “genuinely sinister”.

Vogue later admitted she “made a mistake” and is "sorry for that" but condemned the reaction she received which included "death threats, hate, pure vilification" and said it "doesn't promote debate".