The One Show branded 'next GMB' as fans threaten 'nepotism' Ofcom complaints

BBC's popular programme The One Show sparked a wave of viewer outrage as Roman Kemp was seen interviewing his parents Shirlie and Martin.

Roman and his co-host Clara Amfo returned to the iconic green sofa on Thursday night (October 31) for another action-packed episode. However, viewers were quickly put off by the fact that Roman was permitted to chat with Scissor Sisters legend Jake Shears as well as his own parents.

Shirlie and Martin made an appearance on The One Show to talk about their stint on a Children In Need special of Interior Design Masters. But disgruntled fans couldn't resist drawing comparisons between The One Show interview and presenter Ed Balls interviewing his wife Yvette Cooper on ITV's back in August.

Taking to social media platform, X in droves, viewers aired their grievances. One spectator wrote: "Feel like #TheOneShow should get the same Ofcom complaints # did with Roman interviewing his parents... like Ed interviewing his wife... the nepotism is real."

Another disappointed viewer commented: "Nepo Baby gets to interview parents. Wow, great television," reports . A third shared: "All we're missing is Gary and we've got the full set of Kemps. Jesus. This is just wrong."

A fourth chimed in: "Tonight on #TheOneShow, nepo kid Roman Kemp interviews his parents Martin and Shirlie at his workplace." While another echoed: "@BBCTheOneShow, what's this tonight, 'Bring Your Parents To Work' Day."

Others, however, were loving the family's appearance, with one tweeting: "3 members of the same family on the #bbctheoneshow & what a great family!" Someone else said: "I smiled all the way through #bbctheoneshow tonight!"

Last month, ITV's top boss Dame Carolyn McCall found herself in the hot seat defending the choice to let GMB host Ed Balls interview his own wife, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper. Following a flurry of complaints to Ofcom, she reassured the regulatory body that such an incident wouldn't be repeated.

At the Royal Television Society (RTS) London Conference, Dame Carolyn spoke openly: "It was a very, very tricky morning, there was a national emergency almost being called, and so we got very short notice that the home secretary was coming on the show."

She continued, revealing that Ofcom decided not to escalate the matter, saying: "No one has picked up on the fact that Ofcom are not pursuing these complaints because they believe it's fair, balanced and impartial.

"So would we do it again? No. Was it impartial, fair and balanced? And did they behave professionally? Yes." The controversial interview conducted by Ed with Yvette led to over 16,000 Ofcom complaints from viewers.

The One Show airs Mondays - Fridays at 7pm on BBC One.