The atmosphere on Loose Women's Wednesday (16th April) episode took a sharp turn from joyful to serious when host Charlene White had to issue a firm warning following an inappropriate remark.
Charlene, alongside panellists Denise Welch, Janet Street Porter and Mariella Frostrup, were experimenting with artificial intelligence to envision what a dog might look like as a human.
Tensions rose when the production team chose to use Janet's own dog, Badger, for the experiment to see his human counterpart.
The situation escalated after Janet had been mimicking her cherished pet on the show, which had already caused an eruption of laughter from both the audience and her fellow panellists.
During the amusement, Charlene quipped: "Shall we see whether you were embarrassing yourself on National Television," cueing the reveal of the AI-generated image as Denise excitedly exclaimed: "We love it", reports Devon Live.
"Will you please welcome Badger," announced Charlene, while Denise commented: "Ohhh Janet, so attractive." The screen then displayed a split-image of Janet's terrier transformed into a rugged man with flowing locks and a beard, eliciting gasps at the handsome AI creation.
Janet, however, was far from pleased, protesting loudly with: "No, no, no," and expressing her dissatisfaction with the result. She firmly declared: "My Badger, well he's my partner's Badger and he's going to get the hump after this. He bought Badger and we share him. That person, that dog person looks like a bin man."
Charlene sharply interjected: "Janet," clearly taken aback by her remark. Undeterred, the television personality continued: "My Badger is gorgeous. My Badger's got lovely eyes, he's got eyebrows".
In surprise at Janet's comment, Denise turned to the host, questioning: "I think he looks nice, do you?" Charlene was more focused on reprimanding Janet for her disparaging words than on the AI-generated image in question.
The host then delivered a firm rebuke to Janet: "Also, we don't talk about our bin men like that Janet." She added another word of caution: "We definitely don't do that."
Acknowledging her misstep, Janet conceded: "Oh alright, I'll take that back and I'll apologise to all refuse collectors everywhere, I am very very sorry, I am truly sorry."
While Janet was speaking, Charlene forcefully cut in: "I tell you what I am going to do, move on from Badger," bringing an end to the uncomfortable exchange.
Loose Women airs weekdays on ITV1, from 12:30pm.
English (United States) ·