When Matt Le Tissier shared a sweet picture of his dog hiding behind a curtain, he couldn’t have imagined the reaction it received.
Matt’s dog is called Maddie and the perfectly innocent choice of words he used in the tweet proved to be somewhat unfortunate:
You’re rubbish at hide n seek Maddie!!
Of course, ‘Maddie’ is the nickname commonly given by the press to missing child Madeleine McCann, who disappeared just over ten years ago in Portugal, when she was just 3-years-old.
Many cruel jokes have circulated in the decade since Maddie’s disappearance and so this tweet had some uncomfortable connotations.
Matt’s followers were all too quick to pick up on the association, leading to some tweeting inappropriate responses:
Other people just couldn’t stop cringing at the toe curling tweet, sparking a series of awkward gifs, as they imagined how the sports presenter must now be feeling:
Poor old Matt. The world of social media really can be a ruthless place…
Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.