Loose Women's Charlene White admits 'I was unable to cope' after backlash sparked tears

Charlene White has opened up about her own experience with shedding tears at work, following Rachel Reeves' emotional moment last week. The Chancellor made headlines when she was spotted wiping away tears behind Prime Minister Keir Starmer, in the House of Commons, last Wednesday.

The 46-year-old later explained that she was upset due to "personal reasons" and admitted it had been "a tough day".

In her new column for the i Paper, the Loose Women presenter reflected on the first time she let her emotions take over in the workplace.

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Recalling an incident in 2013, Charlene said she was targeted by English Defence League supporters for not wearing a poppy on Remembrance Day.

"I've explained my reasons why [I don't wear one], and that I come from a forces family," she explained.

"I wear a poppy in my private life, I donate to the Royal British Legion, and I think their work is incredible."

While the 45-year-old initially tried to ignore the backlash, she recalled how being subjected to racist abuse for several days eventually took its toll.

"By the time Monday came, and another day at work, the abusive tweets had reached the hundreds. It included a 'sack the s**g' campaign, which encouraged people to sign a petition and call in to ITV demanding my removal," she reflected.

Charlene was later encouraged to write a statement explaining her reasons for not wearing a poppy, though claimed this was stopped by some bosses at the time.

Additionally, she was advised to ignore the abuse as "it would blow over".

"It was at that point, for the first time in my working life, I burst into tears in my boss' office, unable to cope with the weight of the abuse of the previous days," she recalled.

Charlene said she "frantically" tried to wipe away her tears and conceal her emotions at the time, in fear that she was at risk of losing her job.

"Despite everything that had happened, I was terrified about how the tears would make me look," she confessed.

"Robin, [her managing editor at the time] though naturally shocked by my tears, sat with me as I cried and calmed me down.

"That moment was a turning point in what had been an awful few days.

"He and my then boss, Geoff, decided to publish my statement regardless of previous instructions, and that's when things started to improve."

Fast forward the years and Charlene has observed a shift in attitudes towards expressing emotions.

She noted that there are now "many of us [who] stress less about the minutiae of tears", adding: "Because, shocker, it's not a reflection of how good women are at ours jobs and I'm here for it."