Working With George Fensom - Our Statement
UPDATED: 11thΒ June 12.30 PM UK TIME
We have now released George’s main show, Celeb Splat: Gunge Justice with George Fensom. This show is limited to Fan Club members only.
Please read the full update below for more information about our course of action we have taken with this shoot and our decisionΒ to stage it as a charityΒ release.
POSTED: Saturday 25th May 12.30 PM UK TIME
We are posting this statement to clarify our stance on working with George Fensom after we announced we would be shooting with him as part of our finale shows for our 20th anniversary. We greatly appreciate the feedback from customers and fans of ours after we announced this shoot. It is important for us to listen and take on board all concerns regarding any of our work. This enables us to take steps to correct any mistakes or for us to explain our actions we take.
Background
We announced that George would be part of our final 20th anniversary season shoots on May 20th. We initially made contact with George late last year and has been waiting for us to set a date with him.
We admit that we are not followers of the TV show in which George appeared, in this case being ITV’s Love Island. We simply knew he was part of the 2023 series like Zac and Josh were who appeared on The Splat! Show late last year.
We were unaware of the controversy surrounding Geroge’s appearance on Love Island when we announced his shoot.
We only did a basic background check on George after Splat! Show fans and customers emailed in asking if we really wished to work with him. This was a mistake on our part thinking that if he appeared on ITV’s flagship reality TV show then of course he would have been vetted and checked before his appearance on that show. We will learn from this and do better in the future.
At this point it is worth mentioning that George has done nothing illegal or been charged with any crime, but his actions can be seen as morally indecent.
The Case Against George
Anyone can go ahead and Google “George Fensom From Love Island” to read the controversy that surrounds him. We are presenting them here for you in case you do not wish to do your own research.
His Ex-Partners Claims
George has been accused by two ex-partners of “cheating and being a narcissist” in a series of Tik-Tok videos. We cannot comment ourselves on the validity of these claims but it is only fair that we share George’s official response to these claims below.
βI want to be respectful towards her because I understand that she isnβt in the public eye, I donβt want to name any names but I know who you are talking about. That isnβt an accusation that reflects me at all, I couldnβt be any further from that accusation and I feel quite upset about that accusation.β
He also added –
βItβs really unfortunate and actually quite upsetting on my behalf that a picture has has been painted about me in that light,β
Again we must mention that only the parties involved know the truth here and it is our not our place to judge anyone. This should be a personal issue, but as George has worked in reality TV these events do sometimes come to light. They may or may not be true.
Homophobic Tweets
George has also fallen foul to posting a series of tweets when he was younger that included homophobic language. These have now been deleted and you can read George’s response below.
βLooking back on those tweets, I was really naΓ―ve and really young to think that was the right thing to say”
βItβs obviously not the right thing to say on my behalf… Thatβs pretty much it really.β
George explained that the tweets were posted over a decade ago and that he is continuing to learn.
I would say is this, everyoneβs made mistakes,β he continued.
βEveryone has said things that they regret. The difference in the way that Iβll defend myself is the way that Iβm owning that and Iβve admitted that that was the wrong thing to say.
βAnd actually, if I could turn back time then I wouldnβt have said the things that I said. Thatβs all I can do to defend myself and say in this scenario.β
It is true what George states here in his defence. We have all said or posted things that we regret. George has taken accountability for his actions and issued what we feel is a sincere apology. Does this make it ok? Of course not. But mistakes by us all have been made. It’s how we move on that counts….which leads us to…
Our Next Steps
After we were notified about these allegations we did own research. We admit again that we should have done more background checks before announcing the shoot. The quotes provided above, while they do come from George himself, are presented in news articles on well respected and established websites. We do not doubt the validity of these quotes from Geroge.
We immediately pulled the Pre-shoot Offer and Gunge Tank Vote linked with this shoot and offered our customers who took part a full refund. The pre-shoot and Gunge Tank vote is now being reworked with a Geroge replacement. Pete and James then went ahead to have a meeting regarding the best way to move forward.
Doing Good And Making Amends – George Get’s His Comeuppance
It was agreed that having George take part in the any pre-shoot activities would not be wise. This is because we have decided to go ahead and shoot with George but we will be donating 100% of the revenue (not just profit) raised from Geroge’s main Splat! Show to charity. This is why we have scrapped the Pre-Shoot Offer And Gunge Tank Vote for George’s segment. These are usually spread across two shoots and would be a challenge for us to know which parts of the pre-shoot and Gunge Tank Vote were destined for George.
The Splat! Show is based off the classic TV shows that featured Gunge Tanks and mess. Some of those shows had segments where celebrities who had fallen foul of public opinion or done questionable (but not illegal) things got their comeuppance in The Gunge Tank. We think that is fitting for George who has admitted his wrong doings and will now pay for them by getting Gunged over and over again on The Splat! Show. We will also make the shoot a little more uncomfortable than usual for Geroge, but not unbearable. The Splat! Show remains a safe space for all participants no matter what.
Of course, you are entitled to hold your own opinion on the action we have chosen to take. We are sorry if you do not agree, but we hope you can see that we are taking action to make amends here with us deciding to shoot with George.
The Charities And Transparency – Holding Ourselves To Account
It would have been easier for us to just cancel this shoot and not even mention it ever again. We have carefully weighed our reaction and stance on this situation. We ask that you read this statement in full before deciding how you feel about the situation. You are under no obligation to support the content featuring George when they are released. If you feel we have made a mistake, we are sorry for this rare misstep.
We will not be profiting from Geroge’s main Splat! Show. As stated we will be donating all revenue from George’s main Splat! Show once released to two charities. These charities are Woman’s Aid UK and Stonewall UK.
George’s Splat! Show and Splat! Storm will only be accessible to Fan Club members and will never be released for all. All revenue raised from George’s Splat! Show will be donated to the two charities. Any money raised from Geroge’s Splat! Storm will help us cover the expenses for this shoot but we doubt this will cover the costs to produce George’s shoot and we expect to lose out here. If we find sales of George’s Splat! Storm exceed the production cost, we will donate all profits raised from George’s Splat! Storm to the two charities. We do not expect this to happen and expect to take a loss here with this shoot.
It’s been a while since we hosted a charity Splat! Show and we feel this is the right course to take. Making a mess for a good cause is always a positive.
As with our previous Charity actives we will post a transparency report with proof of payment to said charities once completed. All revenue raised from this show will be donated as long as it continues to raise revenue.