Good Morning Britain presenters Richard Madeley and Charlotte Hawkins were left visibly shocked on Tuesday, August 25, after guest Danny Beard revealed they keep their deceased pet parrot in a freezer. The Drag Race UK star and former Celebrity Big Brother housemate made the admission during a discussion about losing pets.
Pet Loss Discussion
The conversation began after BBC Radio 1 presenter Greg James expressed his heartache over the death of his labrador Barney. Greg and his wife, author Bella Mackie, recently shared that they were embarking on a "grief trip" following the loss. Greg had previously described being "completely floored" by Barney's passing in a heartfelt social media post.
"I know how loved this unbelievably daft farty brilliant dog was and I adored sharing him with everyone on here," he said. "I can't believe our little mate has gone and it's very real and very raw," he added. "He was the best."
Presenters Share Their Own Experiences
Following Greg's comments, Richard opened the segment by saying: "I want to talk about what happens when you lose a pet." He continued: "If you don't have pets, if you've never had a cat or a dog and suffered the loss of when they die, you don't fully understand. You think, 'it's just an animal,' you don't quite understand the impact that it has and the hole it tears in your heart."
Nigel Havers responded: "It is huge, because they become a member of your family, dogs have a better life now than ever before, quite rightly. But god and his wisdom have failed, because I think dogs don't live nearly long enough." Charlotte then shared: "I can completely understand this, when we lost our dog, we had our dog Bailey until she was 16 and a half so we had her for such a long amount of time."
"You know they're getting older, we'd had her for all of that time and you know what's going to happen. But still, it hit me like a physical pain, I couldn't talk about it for ages, and then it took us years to get another dog, which we have now," she added. Danny also shared: "Me and my best friend, we've got two dogs that are sisters. I've got two dogs and she's got one of my dog's sisters, we sometimes sit on the phone and we start welling up about when ours are going to go. We don't know what we're going to do."
The Freezer Confession
The mood shifted when Danny made a startling admission: "When they go too soon, it can be even worse. You expect them to live for 20 years and they go... I had a parrot drop off the perch once, and I've still got her in my freezer." The reality star disclosed their intention to have the parrot stuffed, though for now the pet remains in tupperware inside their freezer.
"I'm not lying," they insisted. "She's in her bed, in her tupperware, on the second bottom shelf. I don't get her out, I'd be terrified if she looked like someone at the top of Everest." Richard responded: "That is the most bizarre confession I've ever heard on Good Morning Britain."
Danny had previously made the same confession on Celebrity Big Brother, telling housemate Donna Preston: "I've had her there for eight years. I've had her in the freezer for longer than I had her as a pet. I only had her for four years but she's been in the freezer for eight." They added that they check on the parrot every few years, saying: "I checked her before I left for Big Brother. Or whenever I'm moving house or something."
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV1 and ITVX.
