Good Morning Britain's Ranvir Singh breaks down in tears as she recalls racist abuse her son has suffered

Ranvir Singh
(Image credit: Alamy)

Good Morning Britain's Ranvir Singh broke down in tears today as she opened up on the racial abuse her son has faced. 

The TV presenter has a son Tushaan, eight, with her ex husband Ranjeet Singh Dehal.

And during a discussion on the ITV daytime show on the racial abuse that had been aimed at the England players who missed their penalties in the Euro final against Italy, the single mum broke down in tears.

Co-host Susanna Reid read out a letter written by a nine-year-old Dexter to Marcus Rashford following his failure to get his penalty in the net. The letter had been shared by Marcus who later penned, 'I don’t even know where to start and I don’t even know how to put into words how I am feeling at this exact time.

'I’ve had a difficult season, I think that’s been clear for everyone to see and I probably went into that final with a lack of confidence.

'I’ve always backed myself for a penalty, but something didn’t feel quite right. During the long run-up I was saving myself a bit of time and unfortunately the result was not what I wanted.'

Marcus went on to apologise for the missed penalty, but condemned the racism he and some of of his team mates have been subject to online, since the loss on Sunday.

He added, 'I can take critique of my performance all day long, my penalty was not good enough, it should have gone in but I will never apologise for who I am and where I came from.

'I’ve felt no prouder moment than wearing those three lions on my chest and seeing my family cheer me on in a crowd of 10s of thousands.

'I’m Marcus Rashford, 23-year-old black man from Withington and Wythenshawe, South Manchester. If I have nothing else I have that. For all the kind messages thank you. I’ll be back stronger. We’ll be back stronger.'

The discussion comes after Prince William spoke out about feeling 'sickened' by the racist abuse aimed at England's young footballers.

Ranvir then teared up as she proclaimed, “That’s England. Dexter’s England."

Fighting back the tears as she bravely explained, "The thing is that goes to the heart of what we want for our children. My son going to school, he’s talked about racism that he’s faced, he’s going to be nine…You think about it all the time and you’re privileged if you don’t have to think about it. The only time you think about it is when one of your heroes is suffering. That’s the thing about privilege."

Ranvir continued to explain the difference that colleagues like Andi Peters face, without that privilege.

“Andi walks around with it whether it’s doing competitions or whatever he’s talking about, you can’t shake it off when you’re in that position.

“You can act like you’re functioning normally but all the time it’s there and privilege is about having a choice. That’s the privilege, isn’t it? Having a choice.”

Ranvir then concluded, “I think we have to remove that privilege, we all have to think about it, regardless of what skin we walk in.”

Selina Maycock
Senior Family Writer

Selina is a Senior Family Writer for GoodtoKnow and has more than 16 years years of experience. She specialises in royal family news, including the latest activities of Prince George, Charlotte, Louis, Archie and Lilibet. She also covers the latest government, health and charity advice for families. Selina graduated from the University of Sheffield in 2006 with a degree in Journalism, and gained her NCTJ and NCE qualifications. During her career, she’s also written for Woman, Woman's Own, Woman&Home, and Woman's Weekly as well as Heat magazine, Bang Showbiz - and the Scunthorpe Telegraph. When she's not covering family news, you can find her exploring new countryside walking routes, catching up with friends over good food, or making memories (including award-winning scarecrows!)