Stoma Babe slams ‘offensive’ Channel 4 presenter for reinforcing ‘ableist attitudes’ after he told a disabled woman she was ‘articulate’

An influencer and disability activist has slammed an ‘offensive’ Channel 4 presenter for reinforcing ‘ableist attitudes’ towards people with physical disabilities in new episode of Dispatches.

Holly April, 30, from Barnet, North London, took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to highlight an ‘unacceptable’ and ‘truly offensive’ remark made by journalist Fraser Nelson on Britain’s Benefits Scandal which aired yesterday. 

Holly, who goes by the name Stoma Babe on social media, was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in 2020 and now uses a stoma, which is concealed by her clothes, meaning many aren’t aware of her disability.

Sharing a clip of the show which aired on Monday evening where the presenter interviews single mother Amy, who has never had a full time job because of her disability, Holly claimed the line of questioning was ‘perpetuating harmful stereotypes.’

She wrote: ‘This is unacceptable; Channel 4…you should reconsider airing a programme that reinforces ableist attitudes. 

‘It is truly offensive for your presenter to say ‘you’re articulate’ to someone with a physical disability. Such comments devalue the individual and perpetuate harmful stereotypes.’

When Amy explained her disability and mental health problems to Fraser, he replied: ‘You look healthy, you’re very articulate, you can imagine someone looking at you and saying ”look here is someone who looks perfectly well to me, she doesn’t look like she is long term sick.”

Amy replied: ‘That’s the problem though isn’t it, just because someone looks alright doesn’t mean that they are. I use a walking stick for a reason. I don’t use it for a fashion accessory.’

Earlier in the programme, Amy admitted that she has never had a full time job because of her life long disability. 

She said: ‘I’d like one but the issue is finding something that I will be able to do consistently without making my son suffer and myself suffer and losing money.’ 

The 30-year-old revealed she had dreams of wanting to be a barrister when she was in school but when she was pregnant with her son Alfie her pelvis broke. 

She explained: ‘It needed fusion surgery to keep it in place, so I need a walking stick to move, or else its painful or I will fall over or I can’t go a certain way. 

‘I am in pain all day every day. I do suffer with mental health issues as well C-PTSD, anxiety and depression.’

Many rushed to social media to echo what Holly thought, however others claimed the influencer was ‘looking for something to be mad about’.

One person said: ‘I’m articulate. Then I can make no sense whatsoever due to my meds or asleep. I remember being “articulate” used against me for claiming PIP. I never said I wasn’t intelligent? Are disabled people meant to be?’

Another added: ‘What is he expecting? [Kathy Burke character] Waynetta Slob in a ‘leisure suit’? Then he would be able to blame her even more for her situation!’

Meanwhile another said: ‘Though it may have felt insensitive as a good journalist @FraserNelson asked the questions he knew that others wanted. There are so many who think just because you can articulate yourself means that your ok to work the question helped to shatter the idea of what disabled looks like.’

Another said: ‘Good grief, honestly he was trying to highlight that disabilities may not be obvious. This just stinks of looking for something to be mad about. Incredibly bad take, and this level of nitpicking puts people off. If you are looking for a backlash by all means carry on.’ 

It’s not the first time Holly spoke out to spread awareness about disabilities, in July she went on Good Morning Britain following a negative experience at a Taylor Swift concert.

Recalling the Taylor Swift concert she went to at Wembley Arena last month, Holly described being treated with ‘contempt by other fans’ because of factors surrounding her hidden disability.

Speaking to presenters Kate Garraway and Adil Ray, April said she was urging venues to step up and invest more in making venues more user friendly for people like herself with disabilities that are not visible.

Holly explained that she has always been a huge fan of the American singer and has previously attended her concerts and had good experiences.

‘I’ve loved Taylor Swift since I was literally 14 and I’m 30 now, so its been a long time,’ she said.

‘I’ve been to some of her concerts before so I was kind of expecting a similar thing. They’ve always been so fun and so inclusive and positive.

‘The reason I love Taylor Swift and going to her concerts is I’ve always experienced quite a positive atmosphere.

‘We’re the Switfies, we’re supposed to be supporting each other and lifting each other up, that’s what the movement is all about.’

When asked what when wrong, Holly sighed, and responded by saying that ‘so many things’ had gone wrong during the three-hour performance.

She explained: ‘I live with a stoma bag and this continuously fills so accessibility to toilets is very crucial when you’re in a place like that.’

Holly had attended the concert with a friend and was placed in the VIP area, though the way she was treated by others was not so luxurious.

Holly said: ‘There was a lot of people there so it was very difficult to get out of the crowd to even get to the toilet but then once I did get there, there was only one near where I was standing.

There are 2,618 toilets at Wembley stadium, 147 of those are for disabled users. However, Holly explained that the toilets were always busy with the disabled facilities even worse.

‘The queue for that disabled toilet in particular was very very long. So when people were in the disabled toilets, there was lots of people knocking saying things like “Hurry up, come on”. So obviously anxiety was through the roof.’

After her nightmare experience trying to use the toilet, her next challenge was to reunite with her friend, which was made near impossible by fans who tried to block her re-entry into the crowd.

‘When I was trying to get back to the spot where my friend was, people just weren’t letting me through, even though I was wearing a lanyard.’

Holly was wearing a green medical lanyard to alert others to her hidden disability.

However, the details on the lanyard may have made it difficult to differentiate from other’s wearing similar lanyards, she acknowledged.

Kate Garraway, presenter on the show, applauded Holly for her social media content, which works to end stigma for stoma bag users.

Holly’s content aims to quash stigma by making stoma bag use feel as ‘normal’ as possible.

Kate said the content proved that stoma bags come in all different shapes and sizes ‘which many find very powerful’.

However, she noted that the counter to this is that it can make living with the disability look easier than it is.

‘The flipside of you saying that life can be the same, is that it looks the same and you’re masking the challenges.’

Holly theorised that one of the reasons people may have been behaving unkindly, was because of the length of the show.

The social media star believes that one of the reasons people don’t acknowledge her disability is because of her glamorous appearance.

‘I do think it has a lot to do with the way I look. I’m a young lady who wears a lot of make-up and wear nice clothes, people can’t associate that with disability, it’s almost like there’s a disconnect there.

‘In some people’s minds, they have a picture of what a disabled person looks like and that’s obviously not helped by signage that’s in most venues – a person in a wheelchair.

‘It people that people can’t associate disabilities with people like me.

‘I have to acknowledge my privilege because with people with disabilities , it is extraordinarily hard to get accessible tickets.’