James Buckley has criticised This Morning for its treatment of people struggling with mental illness, calling the show "hypocritical". Chatting to the Daily Star, the former Inbetweeners actor admitted that he refused to discuss his problems with anxiety on the breakfast show. He explained: "I was asked to go on This Morning and daytime TV shows and chat shows to talk about it. I'm like, 'I did talk about it. You didn't report it properly and it made me even more anxious and depressed.'"
James opened up about why he turned down This Morning
He continued: "The reason why I wasn't comfortable talking about my anxiety on certain shows is that I thought the whole thing was sort of hypocritical. I think they've baited people that have probably had mental health problems and used that to make entertainment." He also referenced Kerry Katona's 2008 interview on the talk show, where she appeared to be slurring her words, adding: "Whatever you've got to say about Kerry Katona, for example, she's obviously got some demons, and they roll that clip out at every opportunity. I didn't even see that live but I've seen it repeated on TV numerous times and that's not fair. I don't want to see anyone taken advantage of like that. How she got to the point where they were like, 'Yeah you can go on. You're fine'. It's really, really unfair and it does not help the problem at all. To be used like that would be horrific and would make you go even more insane."
James is best known for his role in the Inbetweeners
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James has also previously opened up about his struggle with being recognised on the street. Chatting on his podcast, Complete Load of Podcast, he said: "I think I'm getting closer and closer to never leaving my house again. I'm struggling with it and I'm not even that famous. I'm not anywhere near Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt or someone like that and I really, really struggle with it. It's something I find really, really difficult. Having people take secret pictures of me, it just fries my brain. 'I'm just a bloke – just come talk to me. I'd love to talk to you.'"
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