ITV faces fresh scrutiny over its duty of care towards news presenter Rageh Omaar after it was suggested he already appeared ill the night before he struggled to speak during a news bulletin .
Viewers were worried for the 10 p.m. news presenter as he struggled towards the end of the show on Friday – and now a veteran of the channel says there have been warning signs .
Former ITV News presenter Nicholas Owen sent a message of sympathy to Mr Omaar, 56, who himself thanked the public for their support.
The Mail On Sunday revealed that ITV news executives tried to get Mr Omaar to hand over his bulletin to a stand-in presenter after he fell ill live on air.
But new questions are being asked about whether additional measures should have been taken to protect him.
ITV News presenter Rageh Omaar struggled to speak on last Friday’s News At Ten.
Veteran presenter Nicholas Owen, who worked for ITV for decades, today suggested Mr Omaar had not been feeling well the night before.
Mr Owen, speaking on GB News today, said: “Of course I can relate to what happened – I know Rageh very well and he is a very distinguished correspondent and an excellent presenter.
“You just want to finish the job if you’re sitting in that chair where millions and more people are watching and listening to you.
“I remember going into the studio once or twice thinking, ‘Well, I’m not feeling particularly 100% today,’ but usually Dr. Studio, if that’s the right term, comes in in play – Dr. Studio takes over and you pass’.
Mr Owen added: ‘Apparently he wasn’t very well the night before – so perhaps my dear colleagues and I worked at ITV for many years very happily, perhaps would have- Could they have intervened and simply insisted that he step down?
“I don’t really know, maybe they did – it’s just very difficult, especially if he did all the preparation with all the scripts. We just wish him luck, that’s the most important thing.
Mr Omaar reportedly insisted he continue and refused to hand over to a replacement host at the regional London newspaper, even though after the show he was taken straight to hospital.
An ITV News source told the Mail on Sunday: “The program team were trying to replace him when they realized there was a problem.
“They sent the presenter on standby to take over, but he insisted on staying on air. No one could get him out of his chair.
Nicholas Owen (left) told GB News presenter Camilla Tominey (right) that he understood why Rageh Omaar might have wanted to continue presenting
Owen said: “You just want to finish the job if you’re sitting in that chair where millions and more people are watching and listening to you.”
ITV News at Ten presenter Rageh Omaar insisted on finishing the show after contracting illness while on air, despite calls from bosses to bring in a replacement presenter.
“He refused to move. Even when he was told he had to leave and the team called for medical help.
“Everyone did everything they could to help him. Rageh is a consummate professional.
Mr Omaar, ITV News’ international affairs editor, was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital where he then spent the night after channel staff called paramedics.
He was released yesterday afternoon and was recovering with his family.
A friend of the newsreader suggested he didn’t feel “bad” as he stumbled over his words.
ITV and Mr Omaar’s family were reluctant to give details of the cause of his on-screen illness, but some experts suggested the presenter was showing signs of a mini-stroke, called a transient ischemic attack.
It is caused by a temporary disruption in the blood supply to a part of the brain caused by a moving blood clot or “clogging” of the arteries.
Fiona Clark, a nurse, claimed she called ITV at 10.10pm and told them “as an intensive care nurse working in stroke, Rageh Omaar needed an emergency ambulance, he was dysphasic, had a drooping left eye, had slurred speech and was agitated All the symptoms of Fast.” ‘.
Rageh Omaar, pictured here on the Mount of Olives with Jerusalem in the background, is ITV’s international affairs editor as well as news presenter.
Nicholas Owen, pictured on GB News today, worked for ITV in the 1990s and 2000s.
The acronym Fast – which stands for face, arm, speech and time – is a test to quickly identify whether a person is having a stroke.
In a statement, Mr Omaar thanked viewers of the show, saying: “I would like to thank everyone for their kindness and good wishes, especially all the medical staff, all my wonderful colleagues at ITV News and our viewers who expressed their concern.
“At the time, I was determined to finish presenting the program. I am grateful for all the support that has been given to me.
But viewers accused ITV News of failing in its duty of care to Mr Omaar – even though they did not know what was happening in the studio.
Calls have been made on social media for television regulator Ofcom to investigate ITV’s treatment of the Somali-born presenter.
An ITV News spokesperson said last night that it appreciated that News at Ten viewers were “concerned for Rageh Omaar’s welfare”.
They added: “After medical treatment in hospital, he is now recovering at home with his family. We wish Rageh a speedy recovery and hope he returns to the screen when he feels ready.
MailOnline has contacted ITV and ITN for further comment today, while Ofcom said it could not confirm whether it had been contacted by viewers.
Rageh Omaar said in a statement: “At the time, I was determined to complete the presentation of the program. I am grateful for all the support that has been given to me.
Calls have been made on social media for television regulator Ofcom to investigate ITV’s treatment of Rageh Omaar after he was taken to hospital.
Father-of-three Mr Omaar, who studied modern history at Oxford, made his name as a BBC foreign correspondent during the invasion of Iraq and the fall of Baghdad in 2003 .
In September 2006 he joined Al Jazeera English, where he presented the weekday night documentary series and in January 2013 he became a special correspondent and presenter at ITV.
The broadcaster is married to Georgiana Rose Montgomery-Cuninghame, with whom he has three children, Loula, Sami and Zachary.
Following the death of the late Queen Elizabeth, Mr Omaar was also chosen by ITV to cover her funeral on September 19, 2022.
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