A segment on ITV’s This Morning offering viewers a lesson in “bondage for beginners” has been cleared by the media regulator.
Ofcom launched an investigation into the ITV daytime show following 120 complaints from viewers about the item, which was inspired by the hit film Fifty Shades of Grey.
Sex expert Annabelle Knight talked Phillip Schofield and co-host Christine Bleakley through a selection of toys including blindfolds, a feather “tickler” and a vibrating “body wand”.
A video clip showed half-naked models cavorting on a bed. Asked about his views on a satin eye mask, Schofield said: “Sorry, I was just watching the VT then – I got a bit distracted.”
Ofcom investigated whether the item, which aired on 3 February, was unsuitable for broadcast before the 9pm watershed.
“Following a careful investigation we concluded this programme didn’t break broadcasting rules, after it aired a feature called ‘bondage for beginners’, before the watershed,” said an Ofcom spokesman.
Schofield had warned viewers that there would be a discussion about bondage equipment in the show, adding that it would be “done in good taste”.
Ofcom said that the segment was unlikely to have been seen by many children and that the bondage discussion had been “appropriately limited”.
“The material was scheduled at a time when children were at school and clear warnings were also given in advance of the feature to protect any children who were not at school,” said the Ofcom spokesman. “The feature itself was also appropriately limited in terms of detail.”
The film version of EL James’s 50 Shades of Grey, starring Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson, has been a worldwide hit.
