Former Inbetweeners star James Buckley has said he turned down an interview with This Morning to talk about his anxiety as he doesn’t feel the show has handled mental health issues well in the past.
The actor recently discussed the effect fame has had on him psychologically, admitting he has “really, really struggled” with being in the spotlight, saying it left him feeling “anxious” and “uncomfortable”.
In the latest edition of his podcast Complete Load Of Podcast, James says that ITV contacted him to speak about his experiences with anxiety, but he refused them.
“I was asked to go on This Morning and daytime TV shows and chat shows to talk about it. I’m like, ‘I did talk about it. You didn’t report it properly and it made me even more anxious and depressed’,” he explained.
“The reason why I wasn’t comfortable talking about my anxiety on certain shows is that I thought the whole thing was sort of hypocritical.
“I think they’ve baited people that have probably had mental health problems and used that to make entertainment.”
Specifically referencing Kerry Katona’s infamous 2008 interview on This Morning, James added: “Whatever you’ve got to say about Kerry Katona, for example, she’s obviously got some demons, and they roll that clip out at every opportunity. I didn’t even see that live but I’ve seen it repeated on TV numerous times and that’s not fair.
“I don’t want to see anyone taken advantage of like that. How she got to the point where they were like, ‘Yeah you can go on. You’re fine.’ It’s really, really unfair and it does not help the problem at all.
“To be used like that would be horrific and would make you go even more insane.”
A representative for This Morning told HuffPost UK: “This Morning is passionate about mental health and prides itself on the award winning work we have done in this area and continue to do.
“Project 84 was a powerful campaign last year to raise awareness around male suicide and our Be Kind campaign to stop bullying are just two examples of areas we have focused on to raise awareness and direct change.”
“We also regularly feature items on the programme covering a wide spectrum of mental health issues including Simon Thomas’ recent series on mental health and wellbeing and our regular phone ins to offer help and support to our viewers facing any problems.”
James previously said he struggled with the backlash to the Inbetweeners reunion earlier this year, after the show was lambasted by fans.
This led him to apologise to those who felt “let down” by the special, admitting he felt “pretty hated” by fans who blamed the stars for their involvement.