Simone Ashley at the Monaco Grand Prix
Bridgerton's Simone Ashley turned down an interview with Sky Sports presenter Martin Brundle live on TV at the Monaco Grand Prix over the weekend.
Footage of the incident has gone viral with some slamming the Kate Sharma actress for being, 'disrespectful.'
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Martin approached the actress while he was live on TV in Monte Carlo.
He asked, "Is this Simone?" She had her back turned to the camera, as he continued, "Hi, hello! From Bridgerton, of course."
A member of her team reached across, and told Martin, "She doesn’t want to do any TV."
The presenter replied, "She doesn’t want to do any TV? Well, we’re kind of halfway there already."
He persisted, "It’s so good to see her on the grid. I’m not going to push, but I’d like to have a chat with you."
When she refused to talk, he said, "That’s fine, whatever," as he turned around and walked away.
#SimoneAshley so rude turn down Martin Brundle. If you don’t want to be interviewed then don’t visit the F1 grid. #bridgertonS2 #f1 #MonacoGP #WTF1 #wtf1podcast pic.twitter.com/1mtsgRMfNG
— Yan (@YanbinHu) May 29, 2022
Brundle is not only a Sky Sports presenter, but he's also a former F1 driver, and is massively popular among fans.
So when Simone refused to speak to him, many accused her of being, 'disrespectful.'
One Twitter user said, 'If you don’t want to do a 20 sec interview, and don’t know who @MBrundleF1 is, you don’t belong anywhere near that grid.'
The utter arrogance of the so called celebrities on the #F1 grid at Monaco. “She doesn’t want to do any TV”. If you don’t want to do a 20 sec interview, and don’t know who @MBrundleF1 is, you don’t belong anywhere near that grid. 🙄 #MonacoGP
— Velocity Boy (@velocity_boy) May 29, 2022
Support for Simone
Others however, feel Simone was well within her right to turn down an interview.
One Twitter user said, 'People criticising simone ashley for not wanting to do an interview with martin brundle; she doesn’t have to!'
'Martin’s entitled to ask and she’s entitled to refuse. Wasn’t rude, weird or anything - such a strange moment to get heated over'
People criticising simone ashley for not wanting to do an interview with martin brundle; she doesn’t have to! Martin’s entitled to ask and she’s entitled to refuse. Wasn’t rude, weird or anything - such a strange moment to get heated over #F1
— Johnny Cartin (@johnny_cartin_) May 29, 2022
This isn't Martin's first awkward interaction with a celeb.
At the Formula One Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, he tried to approach Megan Thee Stallion, but her team were having none of it.
One Twitter user at the time called it, 'the most awkward piece of live TV [they've] seen in a while'
Martin Brundle & Megan Thee Stallion 🥴 pic.twitter.com/Nt3FNSmRNy
— CJ Fogler AKA Perc70 #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) October 24, 2021
Simone has yet to speak out about the encounter.
