Take Me Out host Paddy McGuinness has hit out at an "ignorant tool" who told the star his autistic children "don't look disabled" as they used a designated parking bay.
The former Phoenix Nights' star said he had a "deep breath and walk away moment" in a car park on Sunday.
McGuinness' twins Leo and Penelope have autism, while he and wife Christine believe their youngest Felicity might too. The family had pulled into a disabled bay to take the children to a play centre when the altercation occurred.
The 46-year-old said the family "had all our relevant badges on display" but a member of the public decided to "come over and tell us that we don’t look disabled?"
"I took a deep breathe and sent my children in," McGuiness wrote on Twitter.
"Luckily they didn’t understand what was going on? Once they’d happily gone in I approached this ignorant tool.
"All I wanted to do was bounce him off every car but there would only be one loser in that, me!"
He said instead of reacting angrily he decided to "explain to him that not all disabilities are the same".
He continued: "The ignorance and sheer pomposity of telling someone they don’t look disabled really makes my blood boil! How does someone have to look to have a disability?"
The actor said "a few years back it would've been a different outcome" and he might have put the man "on his a***", though he was pleased to have acted calmly.
"I'm so glad I took that deep breathe and handled the situation calmly. I feel better for it and hopefully that ignorant person might think twice next time or indeed learn that all disabilities are different," he tweeted.
"If you ever find yourself in a similar situation, stay calm, take the deep breathe and educate the ignorant. You’ll feel better and you’ll still have a job to pay your mortgage and look after your family."
