Channel 4 Sunday Brunch under fire for 'insensitive' interview about sharks after Brit's death

Sunday Brunch came under fire for an 'insensitive' interview about sharks after a British man was killed in an attack by a great white days ago.

Steve Backshall, a naturalist and shark expert who starred in Sky's Sharks with Steve Backshall, was on the Channel 4 programme to talk about his love of sharks.

But viewers said it was "too soon" after Simon Nellist, 35, died in an shark attack on Wednesday off Little Bay, east Sydney.

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Miquita Oliver, who was standing in for regular host Tim Lovejoy, said: "You want to reframe how we see the shark because we are, I am, scared."

"I think fear defines our idea of what a shark is but there's more than 400 kinds of shark," Steve told her.

He said most of them could "fit in your pocket" and said they only feed on plankton.

Steve added: "They could not possibly be of any harm to you."

Some viewers branded the interview "insensitive".

Hayley said: "#sundaybrunch i feel todays segment on the great white sharks was insensitive due to the death of that poor man in australia, maybe a bit too soon."

PepperPot wrote: "A bit insensitive only a couple of days after a Brit has been attacked and killed off the coast of Sydney. No call out to his family? #SundayBrunch."

But others defended the show.

Pickle wrote: "People saying it’s insensitive to talk about sharks, after the attack. Do you know what is insensitive? The millions of sharks killed yearly & all the sharks Australia cull, despite attacks being so rare. Worldwide there were 73 unprovoked attacks in 2021 #SundayBrunch."

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