Viewers have demanded that Gyles Brandreth is axed from This Morning after his comments about Steven van de Velde.

The athlete, 29, was selected to represent the Netherlands in beach volleyball despite his rape conviction, leading sports fans and even competitors to speak out against his participation.

Steven van de Velde was found guilty of raping a girl at an address in Milton Keynes ten years ago. Having become acquainted with her on Facebook, the then 19-year-old travelled to the UK and police were alerted to the rape after his victim sought the morning after pill at a family planning clinic.

He was given a four-year sentence at Aylesbury Crown Court in 2016 after pleading guilty to three counts of rape and served a year in a Netherlands jail before his release – a particularly “lenient” sentence that shocked Dermot O’Leary, Rochelle Humes and Camilla Tominey.

Gyles Brandreth suggested that Steven van de Velde could be rehabilitated, triggering an explosive debate on social media ( 
Image:
ITV)

Loose Women’s Denise Welch was one of the main TV stars to raise the alarm. However, one familiar face of the ITV breakfast staple suggested that the Olympic athlete could have been rehabilitated, sparking intense backlash on social media.

Gyles left many viewers in a fury as he said: “Put that aside for a moment, we don’t know why the sentence was so lenient. It was reduced to 13 months by a court. So the whole point of a trial system is that serious people like the judges assess this and come to a conclusion.”

He added: “So it’s assumed that was right, he served his sentence and when people have served their sentence, do we give them a fresh start? Do we say, ‘you’re now coming out, this is your chance, you’ve served your sentence, you now get to rebuild your life, we would like you to rebuild you life.'”

And when Camilla admitted she “drew the line” at violent crimes, Gyles questioned: “So you are banned forever from everything, are you?”

Many TV fans flocked to X, otherwise known as Twitter, to call him out with one writing: “What is Gyles thinking?!” Another added: “Might as well bring back Oscar Pistorius for the Paralympics”, in reference to the 2013 murder of Reeva Steenkamp, for which the former professional sprinter served nearly nine years of his 13 years and five months murder sentence before being released on parole.

Another pointed out: “Sexual predators are on a register for a reason because it’s likely that they will re offend. Gyles please educate yourself.” As a fourth added: “Why is Giles persisting with this ? Very weird.”

“Gyles !!No no no !! A child rapist ??!!! He should NOT be there !!” a fifth viewer exclaimed. Another then pleaded: “Get Giles of the TV, he’s an old out of touch idiot that has just sympathised with a child rapist.”

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This comes after the Dutch Olympic Committee has maintained that Steven van de Velde had been successfully rehabilitated this Sunday, insisting that he deserved his place in the Netherlands team while Rape Crisis England & Wales branded his inclusion “shocking.”

Steven’s debut in the Olympics 2024, alongside volleyball partner Matthew Immers, took place with audible boos in the crowd and his dream was cut abruptly short when he lost his Olympic beach volleyball match against Italy.