Ched Evans may sue Gloria Hunniford over Loose Women comments

Footballer Ched Evans is believed to be considering legal action against ITV’s Loose Women after presenter Gloria Hunniford made comments about his conviction for rape being quashed.

The 76-year-old presenter was accused by the Evans camp of “misrepresenting the evidence” that was presented at the former Wales international’s controversial retrial which saw him cleared of raping a 19-year-old woman.

“Yesterday marked a watershed in the media coverage following Ched’s unanimous acquittal of rape at Cardiff Crown Court after serving 30 months for a crime he always denied and has now been exonerated of,” the footballer said in a statement on his website.

“Ched has always acknowledged his behaviour was morally unacceptable but consensual. Gloria Hunniford on Loose Women yesterday misrepresented the evidence presented at Cardiff Crown Court in this respect and his family are now actively considering their legal options.

"Opinion is acceptable but misinformation broadcast on prime time television is not.”

“In my opinion it shows the type of man he is though,” Hunniford said on the show. “The facts of the case, maybe I am naive because I am of an era where a threesome meant the three bears, I don’t understand threesomes.

"The mere fact that his mate goes ‘I’ve got this girl’ and he has a threesome and there’s two blokes outside filming it and he never says a word to the girl and leaves down the fire escape.

"This girl apparently as it turned out was so drunk that it was almost like making love to a dead body.

"In my mind I just can’t comprehend in all of that. Ched Evans is the last person I would be sending my children to any kind of sex education.”

Fellow Loose Women panellist Nadia Sawalha said that she feared for her daughter’s safety during the panel’s discussion of the case, blaming the country’s drinking culture.

“If you’re drunk and you’re in the street, you could be vulnerable to unsavoury people in all sorts of situations,” she said.

“I think that we have a massive problem with drink in this country. Why is it that up and down the country, there’s just horror stories everywhere of people 'doing things’ not knowing they’re 'doing it’ because they’re drunk?”

A Loose Women spokesperson said: “We’ve received a complaint from the father of Ched Evans’ partner, to which we are responding.”