Tuesday 20th of October 2009
Trinny's bingo blunder
Trinny Woodall may be popular in the fashion world but it seems her first foray into bingo has gone down rather badly.
The star, who presents hit shows like What Not to Wear and Trinny and Susannah Undress the Nation, appeared on the first episode of primetime ITV series Seven Days on the Breadline on Tuesday, October 19th 2009.
If you missed it, the premise of the reality TV show is that various celebrities go and spend a week living with low-income families in Leeds while cameras track their every move.
It's supposed to be a sort of cross-cultural exchange where celebrities get to experience real life and, as a result, become better people.
Anyway, the controversial episode saw Trinny confess her fears about being taken along to a bingo club for the very first time - even though she would be accompanied by a group of experienced bingo-playing pensioners.
What the critics said
Perhaps you won't be surprised to hear Trinny's appearance didn't garner universal acclaim.
In an article entitled "fading celebs cross the line", the Mirror said she "should have been ashamed" about taking part.
"Trinny...you don't have to be on telly. Where's your dignity?" it added.
Meanwhile, the Sunday Mercury questioned whether the pensioner really had the low income suggested by programme makers since she was shown visiting a bingo club, smoking heavily and playing slot machines.
"Not exactly on the breadline then," it noted.
And a bingo blogger said it was "quite annoying" to hear Trinny call into question how somebody living on benefits could afford to play bingo.
Having pointed out that an average bingo session only costs about £15, she added: "At the end of the day, it is their money to spend how they wish."
The exasperated blogger also pointed out that the programme did nothing to show the positive aspects of bingo such as how visiting a bingo club can help to keep people more active and get them out of the house.
All in all then, seems like it was a bingo baptism of fire for Trinny.
