Loose Women viewers have taken issue with the way the lunchtime ladies interviewed their guest on Thursday’s edition of the popular ITV daytime chat show

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Matteo Bocelli, son of Andrea Bocelli, serenaded the lunchtime ladies with a performance (Image: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)

Loose Women viewers were quick to slam the panel over their ‘weird’ behaviour around a guest during Thursday’s episode. The ITV chat show was in its usual slot when lunchtime ladies Jane Moore, Mariella Frostrup, Nadia Sawalha and Sue Cleaver welcomed singer Matteo Bocelli, son of opera legend Andrea Bocelli, onto the programme for a chat about his second album and live performance.

Jane began the interview by telling Matteo how ‘handsome’ he was and noted that he likely receives compliments on his appearance all the time. She said: “Hello, hello! Well, first of all, can we just say you are impossibly handsome? But I’m sure you get a lot of that!”

When asked about his new record, titled Falling In Love, Matteo explained: “Honestly, I feel like I evolved so this time I had the chance to work on the album with more time and was dreaming to set the studio at home and spend three or four weeks with the producers. Music is an exchange of ideas, and to me, it was very important to get it. I would say it’s mainly pop. There’s a cover that has more of a classical feeling, but mainly pop.”

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Viewers slammed the ITV programme for the way the panellists spoke to the young star (Image: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)

Mariella, seated next to Matteo, leaned in towards the singer and giggled along as he answered her question about growing up with a father who is famous for a completely different genre of music. He said: “Definitely, sometimes, we were turning off the radio with pop artists to listen to Pavarotti, but I was listening to Ed Sheeran, Queen.”

When Coronation Street icon Sue asked what Andrea thought of the album, he explained: “He was very happy. There are songs that he really loves from the album. So yeah, he appreciated the whole project,” before the Loose Women stars fawned over the way he said the word ‘amore’, Italian for love, in his accent. The panel then pressed Matteo for information how he would go about ‘impressing’ a woman with his cooking skills. He responded: “I love to do carbonara as well, but recently I’ve been doing my tomato sauce pasta as well. British food is…interesting! Nah, in general, I eat everything. I’m not very picky!”

But viewers instantly took issue with the way that the panel appeared to be looking at Matteo, 28, as he chatted to them about his life and career.

One wrote the interview was a “bit weird” and flagged how people wouldn’t be happy if the shoe was on the other foot, whilst another joked: “Dread to think what is happening over the break!”

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Mariella, seated next to Matteo, leaned in towards the singer and giggled along with his answers (Image: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)

Another added: “I adore being a woman. And I’m a feminist. We do, however, have many double standards. Yes @matteobocelli07 is impossibly handsome. But if that was in reverse there’d be hell on and probably a cancellation!”

A third said: “Mariella looks like she’s about to climb on his lap,” but others agreed with the panel as they said: “He’s stunningly handsome. The gushing from those four women. Hilarious,” and another added: “Matteo Bocelli is a very handsome man. God Love him Xx”.

One fan made a desperate plea to the panellists over their handling of the star during the interview, and they begged: “Stop interupting him,” [sic] and another joked: “He’s a little too #pretty for my taste (prefer his Dad) but his voice is lovely! #LooseWomen.”

Matteo, who recently performed at the wedding of Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez, has dismissed his ‘heartthrob’ status in the past. He told OK!: “Heartthrob? Don’t tell me that, otherwise I’ll believe it! My head will get big! No, I do appreciate it, it’s part of the job and everyone likes to be appreciated.

“When I did my first European tour, my last gig was in Rome and when I got back home, I found a fan in my back yard – they were home before me. I was like, ‘OK, I understand coming to my show but why are you in my house?’ That was a little weird.

“I do have to be grateful though. In the end, we all admire someone for the work they have done. So I just have to be grateful that people feel that way about me, as long as it doesn’t become an obsession.”