Allsopp in a spin over washing machine row
TV host Kirstie Allsopp gets social media in a spin with ‘snobby’ remark
Kirstie Allsopp, the Location, Location, Location presenter, has become embroiled in a social media spat after she suggested that having a washing machine in the kitchen was undesirable. “It is disgusting, my life’s work is in part dedicated to getting washing machines out of the kitchen,” she said. The suggestion provoked outrage on Twitter where critics said Allsopp, 45, was “out of touch” for assuming people’s homes were large enough to keep washing machines elsewhere. An exasperated Allsopp later insisted the comment was light-hearted.
SHE is famous for the property television show Location, Location, Location, but the location of a washing machine of all things has followers of Kirstie Allsopp in a real lather.
The presenter sparked a spirited debate when she said, of doing laundry in the kitchen: “It is disgusting, my life’s work is in part dedicated to getting washing machines out of the kitchen.”
Asked where a washing machine should be put instead if a home owner has no utility room, Allsopp said: “Bathroom, hall cupboard, airing cupboard”. She explained that getting the washing machine out of the kitchen was a practical idea as it created more cupboard space.
The suggestion provoked outrage on social media where critics said Allsopp, 45, was “out of touch” for assuming people have homes large enough to separate cooking and laundry.
One Twitter user retaliated: “Just shows how out of touch this so called property expert is with what people can actually afford. Snob.” Another said: “Wow, if that’s your life’s work I’d worry.”
Meanwhile, the household gurus at Good Housekeeping magazine said Ms Allsopp was wrong, insisting: “Placing a washing machine wherever you have space in your home – and is convenient for your lifestyle – is best, but you should just remember to clean it regularly to keep it hygienic and working at its best.”
Ms Allsopp hit back at a barrage of abuse claiming her comment was made tongue-in-cheek. As responses flooded in, she said that she was getting “lots of po-faced Tweets” in response to her initial message.
She wrote: “Look you bunch of total f---wits, IF POSSIBLE having a washing machine out of the kitchen frees up space, if not possible, no big deal.
“Clue that this was a humorous debate was in the phrase ‘life’s work’. Who the effing hell has laundry relocation as their life’s work?”
She later added: “Can I safely move away from Twitter for the evening without everyone having a white goods wig out?”
Allsopp, best known for the Channel 4 property show, has developed a reputation for tackling controversial topics including the Madeleine Mccann story, women’s careers and family holidays during school term.
Kirstie Allsopp has been harshly criticised for calling it “disgusting” to have the washingmachine in the kitchen. Her opinion might seem eccentric, but it is couched in the right terms. Equally visceral feelings apply to dogs and Wellingtons. Should they be allowed in the kitchen, and if so, do they have access to all areas? Dogs may count as clean, as part of the family. Wellingtons may count as dirty, and for that very reason be deposited in the kitchen, never to be let near the drawing-room. But if the cat is allowed on the sofa, is it allowed on the bed? And if, like Miss Allsopp, you think washing clothes too disgusting for the kitchen, how would you regard a hip-bath there, of the kind miners once used? In the practice of each household, the answers in every case seem obvious – determined by the iron laws of custom.