Noel Edmonds has responded to the intense backlash following his decision to release live, shop-bought lobsters back into the sea. The 77-year-old was met with a wave of fury from fans after posting a video last week, in which he admitted that it was a “bizarre” move.
New Video Response
In another baffling Instagram clip, the Deal or No Deal host spoke out against the outcry, dressed in a bright red boiler suit, complete with a white hard hat. Addressing the camera, he said: “Oh there you are, right... guess what I am about to do... oh yeah! I'm going to bed.” He turned off the comments underneath the post, in the wake of his controversial upload last week.
Initial Controversy
In strange scenes, Noel was slammed on social media for “basically killing” two live lobsters after attempting to save them from a shop tank, and releasing them into the sea. The former I’m A Celebrity star posted a video as he and wife Liz purchased two crustaceans from a shop in the Isle of Man, with the intention of setting them free.
“All right, this is one of those more bizarre things that happens with us,” he said at the time. “We were at a place where there were some lobsters in a tank, and we're a little bit uncomfortable about the lobsters and tanks,” he said in a video shared on his Instagram. “So we bought the lobsters, and now Liz is going to release them. So here we go.”
His partner could be seen gently plopping the lobsters into the water, as he cheered: "Nice clear water in Peel Harbour. There they go! And we know this is nice fresh water because a moment ago a seal went past. Wonderful place." Alongside the footage, he proudly wrote: "We love and respect all creatures great and small"
Shop Owner's Response
Despite his intentions, Noel’s video didn’t go down well with fans, and led to the owner of the Isle of Man Farmshop wading into the drama - jokingly dubbed ‘Lobstergate’ - to set the record straight. Matt Harrison slammed the backlash against the Channel 4 presenter but defended his decision to sell live lobsters, explaining that they are locally caught and delivered every two weeks.
"I'm sensitive to people's feelings," he said. "But the vast majority of people want us to keep it and for us to keep supporting local businesses, which is the whole point of the shop. I'm still mulling over whether to keep it. There are still lobsters in there; they're really healthy. We're just going to see what happens. But customers will be able to buy it in plenty of other places along the Peel seafront."
Fan Criticism
Many others took aim at Noel online, questioning why he put the lobsters in further danger by removing them from the tank. "Lovely sentiment, but from a marine biologist perspective it's best not to release captive lobsters," a fan warned. "Disease transfer and genetic mixing are real concerns to native populations - also restaurants will order more lobsters and sell them knowing people will release them - you're liable to big fines for doing this."
"You can't do that with lobsters, they can't handle fast changes in water temperature, they just wouldn't survive it," a Reddit user commented. "Especially with sea temperatures being around 20c in shallow waters at the moment." A Twitter commenter added: "I do understand the good will and intention of Noel and his wife, but those lobsters would have been stressed and unlikely to last very long in the sea."
