Rachel Riley SLAMMED by Noel Edmonds over Lloyds Bank advert: ‘Hand back the money!’
RACHEL RILEY has been called out by Noel Edmonds after appearing in a television advert for Lloyds Bank, telling her to “hand back the money”.
Rachel Riley joins Lloyds Bank's mental health campaign in TV ad
The Countdown favourite was told to “undo the damage” by the Deal Or No Deal host for her work with Lloyds and partner Mental Health UK.
The 32-year-old teamed up with the banking giant to encourage people to speak about mental health.
Noel, 69, said he thought the presenter had been paid £20,000 for the campaign, which came complete with the hashtag #gettheinsideout.
Rachel Riley was accused of taking part in a “propaganda” exercise by her fellow television star, who is suing Lloyds for up to £60 million.
“Apparently Rachel has been paid £20,000 to lend her name to the campaign,” he started.
Apparently Rachel Riley has been paid £20,000 to lend her name to the campaign
Noel continued, in an interview with the Daily Mail: “It’s possible that Rachel is not aware that Lloyds Bank is responsible for the destruction of lives and livelihoods on a military scale.”
According to the publication, the father-of-four has urged Rachel to “hand back the money and restore your integrity”.
He added: “You’re either with the victims or the perpetrators. Undo the damage, Rachel.”
Rachel Riley has since spoken out in view of her 570,000 Twitter followers this afternoon, saying she is "proud" of the campaign and "didn’t receive a penny".
She started: "I’m proud to have taken part in a diversity in advertising campaign with @channel4 & @AskLloydsBank to encourage conversations in mental health issues. For my involvement, a total of £8K was donated to my favourite charity @wwwalmtorg. I personally didn’t receive a penny."
The famous face went on: "I have supported & will continue to support MH campaigns I believe in. The response I received to this campaign’s 'get it out in the open' messaging was overwhelmingly positive from people affected by these issues & shows just how important discussing mental health issues is."
It comes just days after Lloyds refreshed their mental health awareness campaign, also featuring Professor Green and Victoria Pendleton.
The bank said the latest offering would “feature a mix of the celebrities, members of the public and colleagues… playing a variation of the ‘Who am I?’ sticky-note guessing game to explore the common misconceptions about living with a mental health condition”.
It was set be broadcast across Channel 4, ITV and Sky for two weeks.
Back in January, the Guardian revealed that Noel had secured litigation funding to pursue his court action against Lloyds Banking Group.
He was said to have got a “seven figure sum” from the specialist litigation funder Therium.
Noel’s claim comes from the alleged fraud surrounding Lloyds’ HBOS Reading, which he believes affected his entertainment firm Unique Group 10 years ago.
Meanwhile, in May, Noel gatecrashed the bank's annual general meeting, after purchasing one share at 67p.
He told bosses: "If you want to turn it into a game show, the way you treat us, I would call it Pointless.
"If you want to turn it into Jail Or No Jail you are going in the right direction. Things are very serious but I keep asking questions and you keep ducking them,” Sky News stated at the time.
Lord Blackwell reportedly responded to him, saying: "This isn't a show Mr Edmonds, it's an AGM
"You've set out one version of events on what you believe happened. We have a different version of events, we do not agree.”