Bernie Ecclestone has been criticised for saying that changing nappies is “what wives are for” in an interview on This Morning with regards to his newborn son, Ace.
The 89-year-old former Formula One boss welcomed his fourth child with his wife Fabiana Flosi, 44, earlier this month.
Ecclestone has two children, Tamara, 36, and Petra, 31, with his ex-wife Slavica Ecclestone, and one daughter, Deborah, 65, with his first wife, Ivy Bamford.
Speaking to Philip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, Ecclestone was asked whether he did nighttime feeds, to which he emphatically replied with “no”.
Willoughby jokingly responds: “Hands on, except for that bit”.
Schofield then asked Ecclestone if he’d be changing any nappies, to which he replied: “I’ll do whatever is necessary when it is necessary” before contradicting himself by saying: “That’s what wives are for.”
Schofield called the remark “controversial”, to which Ecclestone replied “most things I say seem to be”.
Appearing via video link with Flosi, Ecclestone was also asked whether he had wanted to be in the delivery room with his wife when she gave birth.
“No, I’m not a doctor,” he replied. “I’d rather watch a video.”
Ecclestone’s comments have been criticised on Twitter, where people have called them “sexist”.
“This man is a joke,” tweeted one person while another one labelled him “misogynistic”.
The couple announced Flosi’s pregnancy in April, when they spoke candidly about their hopes for their child’s future.
“Yes, it is due in the summer,” Ecclestone said at the time. “Hopefully he’ll learn to play backgammon soon!”
Flosi, a marketing director from Brazil, added: “Like all parents, we have only one wish: the child must be born healthy.
“Hopefully he will never express the intention to do something with Formula 1.”
