Good Morning Britain viewers have slammed Susanna Reid and Ed Balls over an ‘insensitive’ interview with the parents of Reeva Steenkamp.
Reeva died in 2013 at the age of 29 when she was killed by boyfriend Oscar Pistorius at his home in South Africa.
He is currently eligible for parole, having served half his 13-year sentence for the crime, and recently wrote a letter to June and Barry Steenkamp in an attempt to ‘acknowledge and take responsibility’ for his actions.
Appearing on the ITV programme this morning, the grieving couple were questioned about their feelings towards the 34-year-old, and whether they are ready to forgive his actions.
Susanna asked June: ‘How do you feel about Oscar Pistorius right now? What are your thoughts and feelings about him? I know you have a faith and I wonder if that has made you think certain things about him and what he did?’
‘He’s shown no remorse and it would only show remorse, I think, if it contributes to his getting out of jail,’ she replied.
‘That’s what I believe. We haven’t had the full story, I don’t believe that it’s the truth. He changed his mind three times under oath, to a different story, we don’t believe that is the truth of the story. That’s what we want, the truth.
‘This has been a horror story for us.’
June also explained that she ‘forgave’ her daughter’s killer, but his apologies are not enough.
‘I forgave. Sorry is not enough in any case, it’s not enough for losing her life. She was the most wonderful child,’ she continued.
‘Her future was ahead of her. Now she has no wedding, we have no grandchildren and she’ll never have her wedding dress. She had nothing, he took everything away from her and us.
‘I forgave him through God, but it doesn’t mean he hasn’t got to pay for what he has done. He’s shown no remorse and we don’t believe the story. We don’t believe the story that he gave.
‘We want the truth, Barry and I want the truth and this is what this interview is about.
‘He must serve whatever his full term is, in my eyes he must still pay for what he has done, and that’s what we’re expecting.’
Elsewhere in the chat, Susanna and Ed questioned the couple on whether they want Pistorius to be released, and whether he feels sorry for what he did.
Viewers were left unimpressed by the nature of the questioning and flooded social media with complaints over the scenes.
‘These questions are incredibly insensitive #gmb,’ one said.
‘This is one of the most awkward, uncomfortable and ill-judged interviews (with Reeva Steenkamp’s parents) I’ve seen on #GMB and that’s saying something,’ another agreed.
‘You need to have some more respect @GMB imagine asking such insensitive questions to Reeva’s parents! This is why I rarely watch your show! #GMB,’ a follower wrote.
A Twitter user fumed: ‘This is one of the worst interviews I have seen on here. Reeva’s parents deserve so much better than this. #GMB.’
‘They need to stop this interview. Her dad is in bits #GMB,’ a viewer suggested.
As a fan added: ‘The Steenkamps are amazing strong people. This interview is not doing them justice. Rubbish interviewers #GMB.’
Steenkamp died at Pistorius’ home on February 14, 2013. She was in his bathroom in the early hours of the morning, when the athlete began shooting through the door, killing her in the process.
He confessed to firing the gun but maintained that he believed she was an intruder.
The Paralympian was initially found not guilty of murder, but guilty of ‘culpable homicide’ in 2014, and served 10 months of a five-year sentence.
The Supreme Court overruled the verdict the following year, convicting him of murder and sentencing him to six years in prison.
This was then extended to 13 years and five months in prison in November 2017, in accordance with the minimum South African sentence of 15 years.
Good Morning Britain continues on weekdays at 6am on ITV.
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