ITV star Martin Lewis has been accused of strange behaviour on set that ‘made people feel pretty embarrassed’.
The money-saving expert – known for his appearances on ITV’s daytime shows such as This Morning and GMB, as well as The Martin Lewis Money Show – has been embroiled in controversy in recent weeks.
In late February, insiders branded the TV personality, 53, as ‘rude and difficult’ after he was criticised for gatecrashing an interview with Kemi Badenoch.
Martin later shared a social media response to the social media backlash and reports on his behaviour.
At the time, he wrote: ‘Delighted to close the door on this week, not my finest one. I can’t understand (and am envious of) how politicians can come with flak so easily, my skin is far too thin.’
Now, new reports are emerging of Lewis’ ‘bizarre’ behaviour on the set of his ITV show that left one former colleague ‘mortified’.
Another former colleague on The Martin Lewis Money Show told The Sun that during their time working there, Lewis ‘would go around asking people to do mental arithmetic on the spot.’
The insider continued: ‘He seemed to want to show off how well he does it but it put younger, less experienced colleagues on the spot.
The source revealed that researchers claimed they had ‘no work/life balance’ while working with the longtime host, who has presented his own series since 2012.
‘Being asked to answer quick-fire maths questions out of the blue was downright bizarre behaviour. It made some people feel pretty embarrassed,’ they concluded.
Another source who goes on set once a week, however, has refuted this as ‘simply not true that Martin puts people on the spot by setting maths quizzes.’
They added: ‘Staff on the show enjoy working with him.’
Discussions around Lewis’ behaviour were sparked after an incident involving Badenoch while she was on GMB being interviewed about student loan debt by Susanna Reid and Ed Balls.
When talk turned to cutting interest rates, Lewis stormed onto set from off-camera.
‘If you want to help the middle-earning students, the most important thing is the repayment threshold should have been increased,’ he directly told the politician.
Badenoch went on to criticise both Balls and Lewis for interrupting her, saying: ‘Excuse me, let me explain what my policy is. I want to make sure that those young people who are paying and paying but their debt is not going down get a relief.’
Lewis did apologise for storming the interview and thanked Badenoch for ‘being so courteous after the interruption’.
The Tory leader replied: ‘Thank you. I really appreciate that, and honestly, don’t worry. I do love a feisty debate! It helps people understand what the real issues are,’ with the issue going no further.
Metro has reached out to Martin Lewis and ITV for comment.
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