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GMB's Kate Garraway & Ben Shephard stunned by Bernie Ecclestone's highly-controversial interview

The 91-year-old shocked his hosts

kate garraway ben shephard shock
Gemma Strong
Online Digital News Director
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Good Morning Britain viewers have taken to social media to criticise Bernie Ecclestone following his highly-controversial interview on the show.

READ: Tamara Ecclestone takes to social media after dad Bernie's arrest over gun

Bernie, 91, appeared on Thursday's programme via video link from Ibiza to be interviewed by hosts Kate Garraway and Ben Shephard.

WATCH: Bernie Ecclestone angers GMB viewers with controversial interview

But his divisive comments about Vladimir Putin riled a huge number of fans, who took to Twitter to voice their displeasure.

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Asked by Kate whether he still regarded the Russian president as a friend, Bernie replied: "I'd still take a bullet for him. I'd rather it didn't hurt, but I'd still take a bullet for him."

bernie ecclestone putin 1z

Bernie said he would 'take a bullet' for Vladimir Putin

When the mother-of-two asked why, Bernie continued: "Because he's a first class person and what he's doing is something that he believed was the right thing he was doing for Russia.

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"Unfortunately, he's like a lot of business person - certainly like me - that we make mistakes from time to time. And when you've made a mistake, you have to do the best you can to get out of it and I think if it had been conducted properly..."

bernie ecclestone putin

He described the Russian president as 'a first class person'

The former F1 boss then spoke about Ukraine's leader, President Zelenskyy.

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"I mean, the other person in Ukraine, I mean his profession I understand, he used to be a comedian and it seems he wants to continue that profession because I think if he had thought about things and made a big enough effort to speak to Mr Putin, who is a sensible person and would have listened to him and could have probably done something about it," Bernie stated.

bernie ecclestone

Bernie, 91, upset viewers with his comments

Father-of-two Ben seemed shocked and replied: "Bernie, what we have are the actions of Putin and the war that he started in Ukraine has led to the death of thousands of innocent Ukrainians, you can't justify that surely?"

"It wasn't intentional," Bernie replied, before adding: "Look at the times America has moved into different countries which is nothing to do with America."

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For clarity, Kate then asked: "So just to understand you clearly, you think that President Zelenskyy should have done more to avert this war and it could have been avoided by Zelenskyy's actions, not by a change in Putin's actions?"

bernie ecclestone putin 2z

Bernie and Vladimir have been friends for some time

"Absolutely," Bernie replied. "It wasn't intentional to be a war, and I'm quite sure if Ukraine had wanted to get out of it properly, they could have done."

Fans were quick to respond to Bernie's shocking claims. "Absolutely devastating," one wrote. "Maybe #BernieEcclestone should take a look and reassess if Putting 'is doing his best to get out of it.'"

"Wow. Did I really just see that on television this morning with Bernie Ecclestone??!" a second wrote, while a third added: "Stop. Interviewing. Bernie Ecclestone. It's not difficult."

Another person tweeted: "Get him off the show RIGHT NOW #GMB," while a fifth said: "Somebody pull the plug on this Bernie Ecclestone interview. Embarrassing! #GMB."

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