Location, Location, Location viewers switch off as ‘psycho’ trophy hunting vid of host Phil Spencer surfaces
LOCATION, Location, Location viewers switched off last night as a controversial trophy hunting video of 'psycho' Phil Spencer surfaced on social media.
They took to Twitter to voice their disgust at the footage showing the presenter handling a dead deer after he'd shot it.
Phil, 51, is usually seen giving property advice alongside Kirstie Allsopp on the Channel 4 show.
But a video - originally aired in 2011 on the Fieldsports Channel, an online TV station - shows the star examining a dead deer and discussing his "cheeky shot".
At the time, the explained Phil was accompanying Kent farm man manager Andy Crow, whose crops had been destroyed by deer.
The two started off shooting pigeons before graduating to the deer.
A video of the incident posted back in June 2020, has now been viewed by over 1.2 million Twitter users.
Crouching down next to the animal, Phil remarked: "I managed to get a cheeky shot on a slightly difficult angle.
"It didn’t sound like I’d actually hit it."
He gushed in the footage: "I am absolutely chuffed to bits.
"It has been my ambition to shoot a deer for a very, very long time."
"Thanks, Buddy," he added while tapping the dead deer's head. "But I will remember you for as long as I shall live.
"Hopefully, I might get to taste him as well."
One furious Twitter user wrote: "Wow. I will never watch a show with
@PhilSpencerTV again @Channel4.
"The way he’s yanking & slapping this poor dead deer around. Just needs a loin cloth and chest-beating, and it’s like evolution from Stone Age never happened. Who fantasises about killing beautiful animals? Sick."
A previous fan of the show said: "Not watching #channel4 #locationlocationlocation because Phil Spencer is vile."
Another added: ""I see there is a new episode of #locationlocationlocation on #channel4 tonight, hope the locals have their pets in to protect them from psycho @PhilSpencerTV, in fact, hope no one is watching this until the p***k is removed from his job."
A fourth commented: ""Anyone watching 'How to kill a deer and take f***ing pleasure in it?' Sorry. I mean #locationlocationlocation @C4Locations."
In a statement in 2011, Spencer told the : "Because I've been involved in different types of fieldsports since practically I could walk it's always been around me.
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"It's something I'm very comfortable about. It's part of me - it's my complete passion."
He went on: "Around 100,000 deer are culled in the UK each year, not purely related to crop protection, but this is an absolutely necessary precaution against over-population. I took this particular animal home and it has since fed around 35 people."
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"I’m sorry if killing such a beautiful animal is difficult for some people to stomach," added Phil.
"But I would also hope that anyone who enjoys eating any type of meat stops to appreciate that their chicken, sheep, cow, pig etc also had to die in order to end up on their dinner plate - and almost certainly had a less fulfilling life than this wild fallow buck did."