BBC Breakfast presenter Victoria Fritz has faced viewer backlash after asking actress Rakie Ayola whether her new drama could be seen as a 'woke version of a Welsh family'. The question, posed during an interview about the second series of BBC drama The Pact, prompted Ayola to roll her eyes and deliver a pointed response.
Ayola, known for roles in Noughts and Crosses and Grace, plays DS Holland in the new series. Fritz said: 'There will be some people who see this and will say this is a woke version of a Welsh family.' Noticing Ayola's reaction, she added: 'I can see you rolling your eyes. Tell me.'
Ayola replied: 'If anybody wants to say that to me, what I would say is explain what you mean by 'woke' and then we can have the conversation. If you cannot explain it, don't hand me that word, don't use a word that you cannot describe because you don't know what you mean - or maybe you know exactly what you mean and you're afraid to say what you mean, so let's have that conversation.'
She continued: 'Sit there and tell me what you mean by 'woke' and then we can talk about whether this show is woke or not. Then I will introduce you to a family just like this one. So are you saying that they don't exist when they clearly do? Are you saying that they're not allowed to exist? What do you mean by that? Let's have a proper conversation. Don't throw words around, willy-nilly, when you're not afraid to say exactly what you mean. If you don't know, please be quiet because you're incredibly boring.'
Fritz ended the interview awkwardly with: 'Absolutely. Rakie there telling us how it is.' Viewers took to Twitter to criticise the question, with one calling it 'extraordinarily phrased' and another saying it 'should never have been asked'. A third praised Ayola's 'dignified and calm' response, urging people to challenge those who use the term 'woke' without defining it.
