A woman who stuffs dead animals for a living divided opinions with an appearance on the This Morning sofa.
Chloe Lee, a self-employed taxidermist appeared on This Morning today to speak to presenters Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford about her job and why she does it, but the segment left viewers feeling uneasy.
Chloe brought her dead cat, Nicki, along with other animals onto today's show.
Nicki, who she'd had for 16 years since she was a kitten, died last year and Chloe decided to stuff and keep her.
When asked by Ruth if it gave her comfort, Chloe said: "So much comfort, because I just hated the fact of parting with my animals, burying them and never seeing them again.
"So having her in the corner of the room, stroking her and just looking at her, that for me is really great."
Eamonn then asked the taxidermist: "I can see nothing wrong with having your pet taxidermied but you did her yourself?" and Chloe replied: "yeah, I did."
The popular presenters were both a little bit shocked and Eamonn proceeded to ask: "Was that not a bit gruesome and bit too close for comfort?"
The 22-year-old replied: "It was a bit graphic. It was kind of a mental barrier to get over that but because I've been doing taxidermy a while I knew what i was getting into.
"I kind of look forward to it, like I'm gonna see her now like this, in this state but I'll be able to preserve her and she'll look pretty and she'll be remembered and loved."
Chloe revealed on the show that she first found an interest in taxidermy when she was just 11, when she was at a local garden centre and saw a stuffed bird in a case. She said she was very inquisitive and then started learning about what taxidermy was, saving up her pocket money to buy stuffed animals, before doing it herself when she was 14.
Some viewers were left disturbed after watching the segment on today's show, with many taking to Twitter to express their views.
One fan: @RyanGTweetsTv said: "Sorry but that is disgusting. How can she find ripping guts of of your animal delightful. #ThisMorning." and another fan wrote, @PaulaEl11019752: "That's disturbing #thismorning."
A third uneasy viewer, @bt0509 also commented saying: "I feel uneasy watching that lass hold her dead cat and stroke it like that. #ThisMorning."
As well as her deceased cat, Nicki, Chloe also brought some of her other dead stuffed animals onto the show and said she likes to get quite creative and come up with different scenarios for them.
Her creations included a squirrel riding a rabbit and a rat riding a horse, which were both inspired by her love for dressage horses.
The taxidermist said she would never kill animals to do her job and she receives donations from people who have found deceased animals due to roadkill.
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Eamonn revealed that he would like to have the couple's dog, Maggie taxidermied when she passes away but his wife disagreed.
Ruth said: "Maggie would be cold if I stroked her and I wouldn't want to see her there lifeless but I know it brings other people comfort."
Chloe then added: "It's not for everyone and that's fine. We all grieve in different ways."
