Reflecting on a past experience, he shared, “I recall appearing on BBC Breakfast News. It’s an incredibly early slot, and honestly, neither the presenters nor I wanted to be there at that ungodly hour. My purpose was to discuss the single, ‘Two of Us.’

“We had clearly outlined topics that were acceptable and those that were off-limits. Yet, a journalist went ahead and asked me directly about the forbidden subjects, despite our prior warnings.”

The podcast then played a segment from the TV interview where Dan brought up the subject of his family members’ passing. Returning to his narrative, he described the boundaries he had supposedly communicated to the BBC in advance.

He continued, “Occasionally, our list might include things like, ‘Don’t bring up One Direction,’ but that’s not my main concern. My issue arises when someone is dealing with personal grief, and yet such sensitive questions are still posed. I find that profoundly disturbing.”

“What was noteworthy,” he added, “is that after the interview, I reacted in a way I was good at when I was younger. I took to Twitter and declared, ‘I’m never working with the BBC again.'”

“And he came back at me this journalist, he said, ‘Well, if you write a song about grief, expect to be asked about it’. And my instinctive reaction was, ‘There’s somebody who hasn’t experienced grief.’

“They couldn’t possibly have because if they had, they wouldn’t make such a horrible, horrible comment that just lacks all kinds of empathy.” At the time, Dan Walker issued an apology to the musician on Twitter, stating: “Sorry you feel like that. It was nice to speak to you on #BBCBreakfast this morning.”

Dan Walker has yet to respond to the comments made by Louis Tomlinson about his comments on the podcast. It didn’t take long before viewers flocked to X – formerly known as Twitter – to share their thoughts on the public feud online.

One user penned: “I watched the whole podcast, and I liked Louis even more; he seemed like a genuine and honest guy who has been through a lot,” as another added: “It was too fresh and Louis specifically asked not to ask about it. It should have been respected.”

Meanwhile, others sided with the presenter, as one argued: “I get everyone has their own way of dealing with grief, but if the artist is writing about these types of subjects, about loss and grief, what else is the interviewer supposed to ask about?” Another agreed: “If you watch the interview with Dan Walker talking about his friend Gary Speed, I think you’ll find he’s defo experienced grief.”