Fred Sirieix and a handful of other BBC presenters have come under fire for jumping to the defence of the Olympics opening ceremony in Paris on Friday night.
The historic extravaganza, which took place on the rainy streets of the French capital rather than a stadium, has sparked fierce debate across the globe due to some of the displays.
The likes of Lady Gaga and Celine Dion performed musical numbers while dance and artistic performances have been accused of being “confusing”, “woke”, and in the case of a parody of The Last Supper, “anti-Christian”.
The Last Supper display was arguably the most talked-about moment of the evening as, on top of its controversial religious connotations, fans claimed to spot a provocatively dressed dancer suffering a wardrobe mishap.
The morning after the ceremony, Sirieix – whose daughter Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix is representing Team GB in the diving – didn’t let the backlash alter his view.
In his new role as a BBC presenter, he told licence fee payers: “I think it was a 10 out of 10. It started with the flag – the blue, white and red – it’s the values of France, so important for all the French…
Fred Sirieix jumped to the defence of the opening ceremony despite criticism
BBC
“It was a message about inclusion and I think that was very beautiful because it was all about virtue.
“Virtue is a very important word in France, it’s about knowing what’s good and what’s bad… And then I think the French did a Tour de Force, it’s never been done before, it was six kilometres of show…
“I think that was the most incredible way to showcase Paris and advertise Paris to the world. I think that as a result, this has set the legacy of the Paris 2024 games… when you see the beauty and how majestic the city was, I think people will want to flock to Paris.”
The First Dates star did refer to the controversy as he continued: “The other thing about it was it was performing arts – it was a bit sensational and a bit shocking at times, it wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea. I loved it… I think everybody will remember this ceremony.”
And it wasn’t just Sirieix who defended the scenes as BBC Breakfast’s Naga Munchetty and Charlie Stayt also issued excuses for the ceremony amid the outpouring of criticism.
Jumping to its defence, Munchetty told sports reporter Mike Bushell: “I think if you were there and part of the atmosphere it would’ve been very, very different (rather) than just seeing it on television and being so many steps removed.”
Stayt echoed his co-star’s defence as he provided another excuse: “Also the reality check is the weather was dreadful! And I’m sure when they envisaged those scenes that unfolded, it was not in those conditions!”
The BBC stars’ claims were quickly met with outraged reactions from viewers who fiercely disagreed with all of their verdicts.
Hitting back at Munchetty and Stayt, one fan wrote on X: “Stop telling us how amazing, brilliant, spectacular the #OpeningCeremony was. It was a complete s**t show, truly appalling #BBCOlympics #OlympicGames #BBCBreakfast.”
While a second slammed the coverage: “#bbcbreakfast as everyone who is bothered by the olympics will be staying on BBC1, maybe @bbcbreakfast you could actually focus on news rather than sport after 8am.”
Naga Munchetty and Charlie Stayt also offered up excuses for the opening ceremony
BBC
When it came to Sirieix, one person raged: “Fred is 100% wrong. It was a disgrace. Decadent, blasphemous, disjointed & hardly family entertainment.”
“Can’t find any reason to give it more than 0/10. Was so disappointing,” a second said before a third fumed: “Woke trash that wasn’t family appropriate.”
Elsewhere, a fourth blasted the First Dates star: “10/10. F*** off Fred!!! Real French people are f*****g embarrassed and taking to all social media platforms to apologise to the rest of the world! #Olympics.”
However, amid the vast number of complaints were some who sided with the Frenchman’s point of view, including one person who quote-tweeted the video of Sirieix and commented: “Unpopular opinion, but I agree with Fred.” (sic)
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