DRAGON’S Den star Duncan Bannatyne has made a bizarre threat to call in social services on the children of the late Jade Goody.
The Scottish entrepreneur became embroiled in a bitter row with the children’s father – ITV Presenter Jeff Brazier – when he complained about Bannatyne’s Health Club.
Brazier last night tweeted the tycoon millionaire to ask about child policy in the gym in Thurrock, Essex.
He asked whether his child, 11-year-old Bobby, was allowed to sit on one of the gym’s sofas as he worked out.
After a short series of increasingly tetchy tweets, Bannatyne appeared to lose his temper.
The 65-year old replied: “If you abandon your child in our lounge again I will instruct my staff to phone social services.”
He added: “You abandoned your children in the gym. They are YOUR responsibility, NOT my staff’s. Look after them properly.”
Unsupervised
Brazier hit back: “Poor from you…allowing all to think I left my 11-year-old child unsupervised at 8am in reception.
“He was never out of my sight…how malcicious of you to suggest to people that he was. Again your staff allowed him entry.
“I complain on two very reasonable counts in a decent manner and you speak to me about social services?!”
The two men have combined twitter followers of more than one million, and opinion was evenly divided.
Billy George wrote: “Duncan Bannatyne is supposed to be a businessman, does he not find it embarrassing to be treating a customer like this online?”
Criticism
One user named Sarah said: “Surely the professional way would be to deal with this privately and maybe consider using a PR company?”
But Brazier himself came in for criticism.
Jon Young asked: “Who would make their kids sit on a sofa for an hour each day to watch them work out?”
Chris Novaks added: “Dragging your kids out at 6:30 in December so you can fit in a workout – unbelievable.”
Another user said: “Outrageous Jeff – take your kids to the park and exercise playing with them.”
Brazier was in a two-year relationship with reality star Jade Goody, who died of cervical cancer aged 27 in 2009. They had two children together – Bobby and Freddie.
Only last week Bannatyne publicly criticised lawyers who were representing a property tycoon who plunged to his death from a London apartment.
He has also previously suffered backlash for tweeting about Diwali, spelling and for branding smokers “stupid”.
