Gogglebox’s Tom Malone Jr speaks out after photos with girlfriend Bryony Briscoe used to ‘fetishise interracial relationships’

Malone and Briscoe said that they felt uncomfortable with their relationship being ‘complimented based on their skin colour’

Former Gogglebox star Tom Malone Jr has spoken out after photos of him and girlfriend Bryony Briscoe were posted on social media accounts “fetishising interracial relationships”.

In a video shared on his Instagram on Wednesday (4 August) titled “Our Relationship Isn’t Defined By Race”, Malone and Briscoe explained that they’d been told that their photos were being shared on a number of these pages without their consent.

The pair described their discomfort at their relationship being “complimented based on their skin colour” when they saw it as a “normal thing”.

“It’s recently been brought to our attention that there’s a number of pages that are posting pictures of us and they’re like whole pages that are just dedicated to Black and mixed race women finding white boyfriends and husbands,” Malone said, adding that the pair “don’t advocate” for that.

“Like, that’s something to aspire to. It felt a little bit uncomfortable so we just wanted to address it on here.”

Briscoe said that they’d prefer their relationship to be celebrated for “the love we have for each other, rather than our skin colour”.

“A healthy relationship isn’t based on your partner’s skin colour, is it?” Briscoe said. “We can celebrate our differences, which is for us to do, not other people to post on Instagram and make it weird.”

Malone left Gogglebox in February to seek new opportunities, while his family still appear on the Channel 4 series regularly.

Last week, Gogglebox fans rallied around the Malone family after they revealed that their dog Izzey had died.