Kerry Katona has divided the internet after telling the UK weeing in the sea is “really dirty and disgusting”.
Her comments, delivered on Thursday during an appearance on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, definitely surprised some more relaxed viewers.
The former Atomic Kitten star said: “Say my little girl is in the sea swimming, and then say someone is next to her and they start peeing!
“I think that is really really dirty and disgusting!”
She added: “I mean we are polluting our world as it is, polluting our oceans as it is.”
Kerry also asked why anyone would go in the sea to go to the toilet “when it takes you two minutes to go and have a wee in a toilet” rather than taking advantage of the ocean while swimming.
She also admitted that she would do it as a child, but as an adult “it’s something I really frown upon”.
Her comments followed remarks from culture expert Nick Ede who argued weeing in the sea is “completely harmless” and “warms you up”.
He also claimed that the sea is full of “pee from other organisms” – words which prompted Katona’s rather passionate outburst.
Not everyone took Kerry’s side.
One Twitter account remarked: “Does she know how big the sea is?”
Others pointed out that the sea was already polluted by sewage, tweeting: “Who cares if people p*** in the sea? I’d be much more concerned about effluent from sewage works.”
Others questioned which was really better for the environment, “wasting water by flushing” the toilet or urinating into the “billions of litres of sea”.
But another backed her up, writing: “Kerry Katona is absolutely correct.
“I would employ a Beach Patrol to deal with littering and anti-social behaviour. Anti-social behaviour is the right category for urinating in the sea. Unless a good reason for exemption, a fine of £1,000 minimum should be imposed.”
As some Twitter users mused over Kerry’s credentials to be talking about such a subject, one account joked about her past on Atomic Kittens and referenced one of their most famous songs.
They wrote: “I assume they got Kerry Katona for this story because she once sang about the tide being high?”