Susanna Reid has hit out at claims that she flirts with male guests on ITV's Good Morning Britain.
Susanna Reid with her News Presenter Reporter Award at the TRIC Awards in March (Ian West/PA)
Susanna, 44, acknowledged her own reputation this week when she admitted that she was going to “get into trouble” after an encounter with Hollywood star Jeremy Renner, in which she told him: “Um, You’re looking in pretty good shape by the way.”
She told the Daily Mirror: “Any interviewer’s mission is to get the best from a guest. I enjoy the interviews I do and it would be bizarre, wouldn’t it, if I didn’t laugh at a guest’s joke, or didn’t smile? I would just look rude. So I’d rather look like I’m comfortable, and enjoying myself than rude and stonewalling."
Earlier this week, Susanna was also accused of flirting with David Cameron when she was seen "sucking" on a pen during an interview with the PM.
“Firstly I do not suck my pen because that would be weird. I’d end up with ink all around my mouth. I chew my pen. And that’s just what I do when I’m thinking. I do it in all my interviews, including those with women. I’m not accused of flirting with them, am I?”
Susanna Reid at the 2014 National TV Awards (Yui Mok/PA)
Susanna added she did not get “star-struck” and some of her exchanges had been reported in a “mischievous way”.
In the interview with Jeremy on Tuesday, the Avenger star said he would need to be in “better shape” to take part in Soccer Aid.
Susanna then told their guest “um, you’re looking in pretty good shape by the way,” before turning to her co-presenter Ben Shephard and saying: “I thought that was an invitation for you to say that!”
Because @benshephard failed to do so…!!! https://t.co/BHt3SzU17D
— Susanna Reid (@susannareid100) April 21, 2015
“I thought it was probably better coming from you,” Ben replied.
As Jeremy giggled, she went on: “You look in great shape … and now you’ve landed me in it. I always get into trouble for that kind of thing.”
Susanna, who moved to ITV from BBC Breakfast, previously raised eyebrows when Luke Evans nuzzled into her neck as he promoted his film Dracula: Untold, and with flirtatious interviews with David Beckham, Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner and Dan Stevens.
