Television and radio presenter Vogue Williams has hit back at a social media troll who accused her of breaking maternity law after welcoming her newborn son.
The 41-year-old broadcaster gave birth to her fourth child, a son named Remy Valentine, last month with her husband Spencer Matthews.
Since welcoming her little boy, Williams has returned to several of her work commitments, including co-hosting her popular podcasts. While appearing on this week's episode of My Therapist Ghosted Me alongside comedian Joanne McNally, Williams lifted baby Remy up to the camera while giving him a cuddle.
McNally, who recently starred on the BBC reality series Celebrity Traitors, reacted warmly to the appearance on screen, saying, "There's the baby. Look at the baby. Forgot about him."
However, Williams took the opportunity during the episode to reveal that she had recently faced unsolicited criticism online regarding her parenting choices following the birth.
"Someone left a comment on my and Amber's pod and they were like 'a mother should not be out with their baby at all from a month old' blah blah blah," Williams explained. "Like going on this rant about there's a maternity law."
The presenter expressed her confusion at the assertion that she was violating legal guidelines by working or leaving the house with her baby.
"I was like, there's no maternity law! And then I was like, hang on a second, I'm quite clearly in my bedroom with the baby as well," she told McNally.
Williams then shared the clever tongue-in-cheek response she used to silence the critic and force them to retract their claim.
"Anyway, I told her I agreed with her and that women should stay at home for at least one to two years with the baby after giving birth," Williams revealed. "She deleted the comment."
McNally agreed with Williams' assessment of online criticism targeted at mothers, replying, "We all know, nobody polices new mothers better than women."
Maternity Law and Podcast Success
Williams, an Irish television personality and model, married former Made in Chelsea star Spencer Matthews in 2018. The couple share four children together, with baby Remy Valentine joining the family last month. In addition to her broadcasting work on radio and television, Williams has built a major digital presence through co-hosting comedy podcasts, including her show with McNally as well as projects with fellow media personalities.
McNally, a 43-year-old Irish stand-up comedian and writer, co-created My Therapist Ghosted Me alongside Williams in 2021. The comedic podcast has grown into a major success, regularly topping podcast charts in Ireland and the UK while launching extensive live arena tours across both countries.
Celebrity Traitors Banter
Elsewhere during the podcast episode, McNally reflected on her recent participation in the BBC reality competition show Celebrity Traitors, admitting how gullible she felt after trusting fellow contestant Richard E. Grant.
The BBC show returned last week, kicking off with a memorable moment in which the 69-year-old actor comically declared that he was a traitor right in front of his stunned fellow faithfuls during the opening episode.
Despite the brazen confession, McNally admitted that she completely fell for his charm and defended him when suspicion began to mount around the group table.
While fellow celebrity stars such as comedian Joe Lycett led the charge to target Grant at Friday's round table banishment, 43-year-old McNally continued to defend the actor steadfastly.
Explaining her reasoning prior to the first banishment vote, McNally recalled how firmly she believed in Grant's innocence despite the surrounding evidence.
"I'm defending him to the hilt," McNally said on the podcast. "When I say I have never believed something more than he was the faithful, it was wild."
She continued to express her admiration for the Oscar-nominated actor, adding, "He is the most unbelievable man. I believe all their lies. They look me in the eye and I believe their lies and then I go out and ride at dawn for them and I make a shell of myself."
Celebrity Traitors is a spin-off of the hit BBC psychological game show The Traitors, hosted by Claudia Winkleman. In the game, contestants gather at a remote castle to complete missions while trying to uncover hidden Traitors who secretly work to eliminate Faithful players without getting caught.
Listening to McNally's defense, Williams pointed out that Grant's early behavior made his true identity obvious to anyone watching from home.
"I think it's very sweet, but like it could not be more obvious that he's a traitor because you've got nothing else to go on," Williams observed. "If he'd have said this in like episode three or something as a joke, but because he said it in episode one, it's like, well, we can just think of other people being traitors, but we don't actually know. At least this fella said something."
However, McNally insisted that being inside the game room face-to-face with an accomplished actor created an entirely different atmosphere than watching the edited broadcast on television.
"Vogue, you have not been looked in the eye by Richard and told that he's a faithful," McNally fired back. "You haven't. You haven't, folk, I'm sorry you haven't. No, sorry."
McNally concluded her reflection by poking fun at her own trusting nature during the tense psychological competition.
"You don't know that experience. You don't know how convincing he is," McNally said. "It turns out he's a really good actor and turns out I am the most gullible human alive and I'm a male apologist."
