Kirstie Allsopp rubbishes claims she spread coronavirus by moving family to country home
Kirstie Allsopp has hit back at claims she spread the coronavirus by decamping to her country home after her partner tested positive.
The Location, Location, Location presenter revealed in her column in The Times that after partner Ben Andesen was diagnosed with coronavirus they decided to take their children – Oscar, 11, Bay, 13, Hal, 17, and Lydia, 19 – out of school and move to their second home in Devon.
This prompted accusations on social media that she was irresponsible for spreading the virus to a rural area with limited medical facilities.
Allsopp, 48, told Yahoo UK: “I am not at my holiday home in north Devon. Our home is in Devon. Devon is a vast county – while parts of it are very rural, there are three major hospitals close to my home.
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“It’s 14 days since Ben had symptoms of Covid. He’s still quite achy – you wouldn’t want to get it in a hurry.
“The reason the government have done this lockdown is to protect the NHS.
“I think some of the reporting has been highly irresponsible and unkind to me and my family.
“People should spend time in the place where they are best able to safeguard their families.
“The hashtags I have been using are #BeKind but also #BeSensible. We all have a responsibility to be sensible and be kind. And think twice before writing or saying anything which isn’t true.”
Allsopp wrote in her self-isolation diary in The Times: “We've all been living together for the past few days. But we're not sharing bathrooms, towels, utensils etc.
"We reckon if we were going to get it we would have got it by now, but there are some times when following the rules is a good idea."
The TV presenter also revealed that her sister had been to visit the family before travelling back to Edinburgh, where she has started to develop symptoms of Covid-19.
Allsopp said: "She's really unwell, totally bedridden and feeling as if she has ‘smoked a packet of B&H every day for the past 20 years’.”
Read more: Kirstie Allsopp quit Twitter after she was abused for smashing her kids' iPads
She then revealed 17-year-old Hal had come down with a cough during the family’s time in quarantine and asked, "Do we do another seven days?"
Allsopp appeared on Good Morning Britain via video link this week and admitted she was feeling unwell.
She said: "I don't know and I won't know [if I've got it] because tests aren't available.
"My husband got a test because of complications with my son's health, he was taking him to the doctor.
"This is the point that needs to be made really clear, people might have it and not know they've got it. So many people have it and they don't know they've got it."
A now deleted thread on Mumsnet accused Allsopp of being, “the worst kind of second home owner", for self-isolating in a rural area.
Twitter users also joined in the accusations, with one calling Allsopp “an entitled f***ing princess”.
Another wrote: “#KirstieAllsopp – thoughtless, selfish, idiot. Brings her Coronavirus infected husband & kids to #Devon. Has her sister to stay, who develops symptoms & travels to #Edinburgh. F**k off Allsopp-you put our #doctors, #nurses & vulnerable Devonians at risk.”