Full Interview With Alton Towers Boss After Rollercoaster Crash

[@FaunaturaleOG]

That wasn't an interview, that was an interrogation. Horrible to watch.

[@SleepExports]

*witch

[@emily-louisejayne975]

Sky news should be ashamed to have someone like her representing them. She's nothing but a bully. Didn't give him a chance. She made it personal. Do your job properly love! What a disgrace?!

[@willemgorman6134]

Exactly she is a complete disgrace

[@chrisdawson6156]

I totally agree she needs sacking on the spot

[@GordonH-rg2uf]

I know

[@magicwiccan1]

He didnt even have to come on an give them an interview, she showed no respect and was very rude, no wonder there are over 1100 complaints gone in against her. Bad Form skynews!!

[@Smithy350]

Alan McNamara its 48000 now on the petition to have her sacked

[@ReadReborn]

Smithy 51k now lol

[@RachelXKnight666]

Where can I sign it? Lol

[@StarMan881Gaming]

Oh boy where do I sign up!?

[@volumzala]

Divorced TWICE? No wonder. Living with her must be hell. Like she cares about the victims, she just wants a man to have a go at.

[@TozzaYT]

LMFAOOOOO

[@MalrusOSC]

LMAO watching this with that context has made this make WAYYY more sense. Good on Varney for not losing it and walking out

[@harleyfranklin3378]

She needs sacking, I think he held his own very well. Sky News really need to discipline this woman it's people like her that create rumors that can get well out of hand. Accidents happen and I think that Alton Towers are doing the right thing it never hurts to ADD further protocol's where safety is concerned.

[@plymouthbiker]

Very true. No one can ever think of every scenario before an incident like this. And that's why planes still crash and boats still sink. Although because of accidents before there are less of them because guys like him make changes like this to make sure they don't happen again in that way. She was giving me a headache!

[@coasterjake5903]

Harley Franklin true

[@jeeedel2491]

Well that's not true, just adding more and more protocols unnecessarily is shown to increase confusion, leading to a less safe situation. GOOD protocols and EFFECTIVE risk management is what stops incidents. I agree that this interview was ridiculously bad, but the courts found it was poor procedure and poor training that led to the crash. Also, of course people must think of "every scenario" feasibly, that's the point of risk assessment. The risk assessment wasn't done properly in regard to stalling trains and resetting.

[@ilovehollybond]

Exactly would she prefer the rides to have left safety precautions like what is her point stupid woman. Maybe if she rides one

[@ALLYCAT591]

She interupted Mr Varney 20 times. Good on him for keeping his cool. Merlin Entertainments has dealt with this issue the best they can, they've accepted full responsibility and have done everything in their power to make sure this never happens again, and they have agreed to compensate those affected without any legal disputes.

[@rhyshughes2323]

yeah honestly I would start shouting for her to shut up

[@SleepExports]

Vile woman

[@DominicGreenwood]

He handled this very well she was a horrible interviewer.

[@euroaviation0013]

Yea

[@webworkpeter]

Very nasty and over- assertive woman.

[@AndyMitchellUK26]

This is so unbelievably unprofessional. The rides have always been safe. Alton Towers have NEVER had an accident in the past where someone was injured which clearly shows that the safety measures are good enough. An unfortunate series of events took place which led to a serious incident. It was either human or computer error but either way, this would not be the first time in history that man or machine is to blame for a mistake. Stop giving them such a hard time and let them focus on making sure the park continues to be a fun place for families to go to. Let them learn from the mistakes like any NORMAL human being would have to do.

[@jeeedel2491]

Wrong, let's get the fact out, the courts heard the evidence that it was Merlin's fault and Merlin got fined accordingly. It was NOT individual human error and definitely not computer error. It was caused by poor training and bad procedure / risk assessment, staff overrode the failsafe thinking they were following procedure without the right checks in place. I agree though that Alton Towers is generally very safe, and that this interviewer was an unbearable idiot!

[@JammyBandStudios]

Omg she was so rude! It didn't appear that she listened to anything he said. Mostly it seemed that she heard *only* what she wanted to hear and didn't want to accept that Merlin have an exceptionally good safety record, and are trying their best to rectify the situation and place even more concern than they already held into the safety of their rides, to ensure that they remain one of the best entertainment and leisure companies in the world.

[@AlishaaaSexMe]

JammyBand was a really

[@AlishaaaSexMe]

Really well and that the house has to be the same

[@AlishaaaSexMe]

All the house

[@cameronoverton7274]

Oh my god I can't belive that, is this women deaf or smthing she literally made him repeat the saw with 100 times

[@AboutSummer]

That lady is so rude? He's not the roller coaster he didn't want it to crash

[@rhyshughes2323]

true

[@Mettyunuabona_]

This isn't an interview this is an interrogation. Just stupid question after stupid question. He answer the same question at least 10 times

[@piplup2009]

This is like having a car crash then blaming the makers

[@Industrialist2015ofUk]

Yes, but the makers are ultimately responsible as they are in charge of overseeing safety measures!

[@jeeedel2491]

It was Merlin's fault, the courts found the evidence against them. Although I agree this interview was terrible, Kay Burley is an idiot

[@AC_RDR2_Q]

@@Industrialist2015ofUkyes but also the ride worked fine it was only a human error that caused the accident

[@chilli943]

No it isn't anything like that, what an awful analogy. This Clown Executive is the chief of the group that are responsibly for hiring & training the fools that operate these death traps. He is the MOST accountable figure outside of the actual operators.

[@bravo795mp]

I know I’m late to this but I have so much respect for this guy. All the parks in US wouldn’t have even taken responsibility; or made an interview (he didn’t have to that early on not knowing what caused it especially with his parks great safety record). This lady was a complete tool..

[@Rogers319]

That woman was so unprofessional.

[@coasterjake5903]

Frigid319 completely agree

[@Yoongicabbages]

I completely agree with that

[@kokirielf]

Wow!! What a disgraceful woman "Sir, sir I'm sure they're not interested in your sympathy at this stage". How dare she speak for others.

[@PSPbyLaura]

She is basically asking the same questions over again but re-wording them and making them personal. Sky should be ashamed to have someone like that representing them!

[@jamesbarton2924]

Nick varney is one of the best people that the world has ever seen, paying the money to give us rides and other coasters. Hes the head of one of the most succesful business ever. Hes was under so much pressure in the time of the accident. Even though it hasnt had a bad affect on the company i will still visit his parks and enjoy myself. As long as the riders feel safe on the rides, they should remain open. Nick varney thank u for entertaining us for decades and i cant to see what u bring us in the future

[@rebekah2279]

If this man had brushed off the media, and been very private about the incident, I would understand her style of questioning. However, this man has been entirely apologetic, openly said that he will cooperate with injury lawyers, took the blame on behalf of the theme park, answered all questions, and refused to say whether or not limbs had been lost out of respect for the family. He's handled the horrible event very professionally and well, she had no reason to come in so aggressively and had no excuse for getting so vicious and rude. He answers all the questions with respect and dignity. As a trainee journalist, this is exactly the encounter I hope to avoid by LISTENING to the answers and tone of who I'm interviewing.

[@purpleprinc3]

Sky news doesn't have a good 'news' record.

[@JohnyBuzzkillKidd]

purpleprinc3 Sky news is turning into Fox news. Won't be long until it can't call itself news and has to be 'entertainment'.

[@secular555]

She tried so damn hard for her "gotcha!" moment that never came, and ruined the whole interview. This is unbearable to watch.

[@Teo-o1w]

They actually were interested in his sympathy. As after, on This Morning they said they were being extremely kind.

[@lewisgraham4508]

The Smiler is probably the safest roller coaster in the country right now after what happened, it was an absolute one off. I've ridden it and it's brilliant! These accidents are few and far between and are so rare.

[@lewisgraham4508]

thanks baeeeeeeee x

[@bookillful]

Sensationalism, heckling, thoughts, opinions and feelings have nothing to do with good journalism. Becoming more and more like C4 News every day.

[@DuckWarrior13]

The extra safety protocols on the other rides is almost entirely a PR thing. The rides were safe, the crash was statistically unlikely and ultimately very unlucky. The extra protocols are there to make people feel better more than anything else and anyone with half a brain knows that. That's why he wouldn't answer "why extra protocols if they're safe already?".

[@Shady4O4]

please tell me she is fired

[@TheUnarmedPanda]

Shady404 there is a petition to get her fired.

[@iank8821]

The Unarmed Panda yeah 53000 people have signed it she might get sacked

[@owurmoshingonmyfoot]

Nope. Ofcom won't investigate the interview. What is this world coming to when it is OK to demand confidential medical information in interviews for the sake of cheap headlines

[@Jasoncx]

Shady404 She is fired.

[@Chompalots]

I'm not sure how anyone could even watch that clip, the presenter was awful. She was so rude and asked such stupid questions I just had to turn it off. Sky news need to hire someone who understands the concept of an interview and realises that asking for personal details of victims is massively disrespectful.

[@stianhje1]

Does this gal even have a jurnalism degree? One accident out of 100 millions of rides. Yeah those rollercoasters are death rides.

[@TheBigFish9]

What a cow!! Guys under enough stress as it is.

[@epirus500]

He didn't have to give an interview Fortunately he apologised many American companies would disavow responsibility and tie up victims in litigation They have apologised to the victim and are preparing compensation Partly a PR motive to combat massive fallout Also possibly might be to protect them from litigation in the millions Now they might be cynical but he seems generally contrite Sky's motive is to just give the public their pound of flesh

[@Fuzzywuzz71]

The way this woman speaks to Nick like she knows anything about the way it works. What a disgrace of an interview. It's mind blowing this was never taken down... Nick knows exactly what he's talking about. He's aware of the circumstances. He's not a chimpanzee. Huge props to Alton Towers for PROVING that these rides are safe!

[@DKU25690]

this man is a legend for not raising his voice once I would be screaming

[@dreamer0209_]

And this was her last interview ever! She was so disrespectful, one crash was one too many as he said the other rides WERE safe they just upgrading the safety standards so that it was exrtra safe, all she wants to do is put him down so he loses peoples trust. Glad she got sacked

[@ASHLEY1234AJ]

Did she actually get sacked?

[@InterScudetto]

Not yet

[@GordonH-rg2uf]

@@ASHLEY1234AJI hope

[@BengalBoy16]

Please, she needs to reminded to stay professional. This is so rare, SO RARE, for rollercoasters to fail like this, it's ridiculous. It's like plane crashes, they are so rare yet people are terrified of them. I would be very happy to go to these theme parks and go on there rides. She needs disciplinary by her employee.

[@Soullight86]

Incredibly rude and unprofessional

[@SMewett]

Of course I feel for all involved. But this guy has to also live with the knowledge of what happened. It was NOT his direct fault, as accidents happen. But bullying him could have terrible consequences. It could push him over the edge, causing all types of personal issues. Why does is this woman allowed, time and time again, to bully people she's interviewing?

[@LittlePufferfish920]

She needs to calm down bruh, the only reason it went so badly was because of the staff not telling the man who came to fix the ride that there was a 5th cart on the ride. The man only thought there were 4 carts on the ride and saw all the 3 empty carts in the station and the one on top of the lift hill which carried the passengers so he over rid the emergency cart stopper too let the ride carry on. It was all because of bad communication and ever since that accident they have trained their staff to be 100x more efficient then the ones back when the smiler crash happened.

[@Thrillridesphotography]

I have just stopped the video because I don't understand what she is getting at, repeating the same questions over and over, She is making herself look stupid, It happened like Alot of accidents do, what we do it learn from it and put things in place so it doesn't happen again, Isn't that what his trying to say,

[@ellielangford6047]

The accident was such a tragic accident but I'm sorry she was incredibly rude and this is so hard to watch! How on earth did she get this job!? The questions she's asking are ridiculous! He is clearly gutted about what has happened but it wasn't his fault, it was an ACCIDENT! Hope she gets the sack!

[@gemmahannan106]

She's an awful interviewer, that was painful to watch. Good job sky

[@isaachtc123]

Insufferable interviewer

[@divinity176]

What a ridiculous line of questioning - next generation of cars will be safer, does it mean present cars are unsafe? Does meeting safety standards mean accidents can never happen?

[@elenajennings5444]

God she won't even let him speak.She is so rude

[@Ethan-ik1nm]

that news reporter is stupid, accidents can happen ever heard of technology, its that thing that can go wrong. Also why is she discontent that hes put another safety measure in. Take the ratio of of people who have safely ridden the ride and people who have been injured on it, theres a BIG difference

[@wirechick]

cant believe she wasnt investigated for this interview, very disrespectful to not only Mr Varney who was under a huge amount of pressure as it was but she was also utterly disrespectful to everyone who was involved in the accident demanding he disclose private medical information

[@lukanw]

I worked at Alton Towers when this happened. Recently in my new job we were given media training and this example is used both to show an excellent crisis management attempt by Nick and an example of how not to interview someone 😂

[@077shazza9]

The victims themselves even said how great alton towers were to them after the accident

[@4bstr4ct]

This lady has no idea how to engage in a logical discussion in the context of a dynamic and complex world. She is extremely unreasonable and disrespectful. This mans composure is amazing and commendable.

[@logicaldodger899]

This triggers me as an enthusiast

[@katedvali3950]

That women really won’t let him speak , she just says the same thing over and over and over and over again but just in different words that have the same meaning 🙄

[@coasterjake5903]

all she did was put words in his mouth, she is supposed to sympathise with him, IT'S AN INTERVIEW!

[@kevinlongman007]

She was very accusatory here but no it is NOT her job to sympathise with him.

[@atom286]

I can imagine her getting cracked one day when she encounters someone she did that too in an interview. The Alton Towers guy did a good job at PR. No matter what machines are built (planes, ships, cars, roller coaster rides) no company can prevent absolutely every accident occurring. And 100s of millions of rides without an serious incident is good enough for me. Its also good that Alton Towers seem genuine in doing the right thing now that one has occurred.

[@JohnyBuzzkillKidd]

Wow that is shocking interview skills. She should not have her job after that, and the Merlin group should sue Sky News. He kept his cool though. Good job Nick Varney

[@rhyshughes2323]

the woman who is speaking to him is just going over the same thing over and over again. She is saying if the rides need extra saftey measures putting in they must no thave been safe before but the thing is that if the rides were not safe they would not be able to operate and alton towers would not be open 6 years after the crash honestly she was a disgrace he was trying to explain and she says the same thing 5 or 6 times she deserves the sack

[@sallyobrien3448]

The poor man is already under enough stress and look at her making it worse

[@GordonH-rg2uf]

I know

[@iank8821]

id just walk off if she asked me to come on and then treat me with no respect

[@nitrousdnbuk]

She was extremely rude to him

[@Dan-ul3rc]

I have no idea how he didn’t explode she was talking to him like he wanted it to crash

[@drob2897]

Can't believe I'm only just seeing this. Sky News should absolutely be ashamed about this! This women is nothing but a bully who should have been told to stop during the interview or was she encouraged or told to be like this in which case Sky news are extremely poor at what they do. I don't watch sky news but had I when this aired I would have cancelled my package with them out of protest.

[@Jackie_Tracks]

good lord how dense is she? adding additional safety measures to other rides, even if they were safe to begin with, puts literally everyone at ease. even if theres no way an accident like that could occur on another ride with the previous safety measures it still puts people more at ease to know that the park is making absolutely double sure nothing will happen to them and I imagine it makes staff feel better too. after having an accident like that extra safety measures, even if they're completely unnesiccary, just make everyone feel that much more comfortable going on rides.

[@NotCommanderShepard]

Disrespectful, sensationalist, selfish woman. Pressing on irrelevant points for personal gain. Just send her out on the streets to do the filler interviews no one cares about.

[@Erekose2023]

This is a fine example of the decline iin journalistic integrity that has been going on over the years. She's rude, arrogant, self-serving, and more interested in pushing her own narrative of events than listening to the truth. Sure, an accident happened.. that's REALITY. With her world view, after the first automobile accident, the concept should have been scrubbed. After the first person injured by a horse, horse riding should have ceased. She is totally unprofessional, but should SKY NEWS decide to improve their journalistic standards and dispence with her unprofessional attitude, I am sure she could waltx into a job alongside Bill O'Reilley and the rest of FOX NEWS cronies across the pond.

[@Ryaninthezone]

What a stupid interview, hindsight is a wonderful thing, if a theme park has been running safely for decades then it is perfectly reasonable to satisfied with the given safety measures. It's easy to say that they weren't adequate after an accident, if they had been deemed inadequate before the accident then this would be different but there were no sings. Also the smiler is a fairly new ride with new technology so it is inevitable that there are going to be problems with it, it's just that with the way the smiler works and it's running schedule that the these problems led to such an unfortunate and devastating accident but that does not mean that this interviewer can have a field day ripping into that man. Well done to him for saying so calm and hitting all answers with a straight bat

[@hanuchan]

She legit just repeated everything, why is she allowed to interview, that is no skill at all

[@Tom-dq3zy]

2 minutes of unique answers, 12 minutes of the same answer.

[@yougoodbro6305]

That woman should be fired and I hope she has retired or isn’t in that job, god bless whoever lives with her or whoever is in her new job with her

[@Kim-ss5bb]

Not very professional, Don't bring people on for an Interview and speak over them, He is taking responsibility what more does she want, Rides can have all safety precautions these things can happen like with any technical things

[@sonicr360]

she really is dire! I can honestly say I do not miss her on Sky ...when she comes back... I am returning to BBC One

[@Randomperson-zt3il]

I know this was 5 years ago but OH MY GOD this woman is so rude!!

[@fancysanimations]

The ride crashed due to EMPLOYEE misconduct, this guy isn’t to blame and this woman just can’t accept it.

[@copyer9088]

Still should be closed due to the tragic injuries and life changing circumstances that the victims were put into as result plus it’s a clearly a heath hazard

[@fancysanimations]

@@copyer9088 it’s not a health hazard now mate is it

[@copyer9088]

@@fancysanimations still not riding it

[@ANDY1985UK2011]

@@copyer9088 the staff caused the crash , they should not be able to override the system brakes until they had checked the whole track

[@copyer9088]

@@ANDY1985UK2011 but that was silly why did they do that?

[@chimmyconcarne]

My heart goes out to the people involved in the crash.....

[@djbethell]

She's the very rare type of person that even her parents would turn their noses up at. The woman has very serious and deep-seated issues. Why she continually wants to air them on live TV is anyone's guess.

[@awesometwitchy]

Wow. I thought the comments were exaggerating how unprofessional the newscaster was behaving but good lord! Even a week after the accident it should have been clear that this was a freak circumstance, why is she acting as if Nick personally drove the carts into each other while laughing maniacally?

[@Yasin_2312]

If I was the man I would’ve told the women to STFU. She thinks she knows everything. She is saying that she lost her leg. Even the victims don’t blame the Smiler. We all know it is human error but some ignorant people want the Smiler to be dismantled. Glad it didn’t

[@OneMorePutt]

Shame on her and shame on Sky for monitising this interview.

[@timmis4876]

She is ridiculous, she should be sacked and taught how to do a proper interview...... So annoying

[@gemmapreston231]

My thoughts are with everyone on the ride and who have been injured and I do feel marlin Entertainment have managed what is a truly devistating accident very well. I'm sure we can all say it's frustrating when a ride closes due to technical faults but what ever happened this ride failed somewhere but merlin entertainment have not hid behind closed doors they admitted responsibility and have started procedures rolling to help the people concerned. This women should be sacked credit to Nick for keeping cool and answering every repeated question making this a roundabout interview. I hope the family's get the answers they need as soon as possible

[@היילימור-ר1ז]

What a lousy interviewer, she should go, she’s a horrible person, she’s just attacking and harassing him, disgusting

[@stevenm5062]

Good job to the manager for keeping his cool with this disgraceful interviewer, she belongs in a children’s witch book.

[@joemorrisonmusic]

She should have been fired after this interview. So unprofessional.

[@Oliver_T_03]

What a disgusting show of behaviour from this reporter on national TV. Nick Varney is a professional for keeping his cool with these excuses for an interviewer, amidst a very damaging time for him and his company

[@mollywooders8207]

he has the right to answer her questions and he handled it so well when both of the reporters were so rude. It will not be an over night operation to find out whats wrong because it's a massive ride and its more than just the structure its self to examine. They did take responsibility and haven't denied that so it's very unfair that she is tricking him and making out that its a quick fix?

[@penguinsrokmawrld]

This is disgusting, totally unprofessional

[@whxtrendy8971]

He clearly knows what he's talking about he's trying to explain what happened he understands that it was a terrible accident she doesn't care she just is arguing with him and treating it like she knows it all she said that the rides were not safe an accident like this has never happened In alton towers if the rides weren't safe then I might not be speaking the way I am because I rode the smiler in the past and in fine he handled the situation very well!

[@JfkJames]

While I was on ripsaw the person next to me, her glasses fell off and broke, we need an investigation into this and the park needs to be closed down That did happen but Alton Towers is like the best place ever and I am so glad that it wasn't me who got injured but my sympathy goes towards the poor teenagers who were injured.

[@VideoedTechReviews]

He was saying nothing wrong nor did he have an attitude with her. She was clearly just on a power trip and trying to get Sky News a lot of publicity and it worked.

[@topgun685]

wow she was so rude and not even listening to him... she needs to be fired

[@thunderc45]

She should have been instantly dismissed by Sky. How he kept his cool is one hell of a measure of self discipline. But then he's a senior executive and she was only chosen for typical Sky eye candy

[@Lucylucylucy111]

shes talking to him like he just looked at her boyfriend dodgy in a bar not on the news ffs...

[@heene]

I stopped the video as he was continually interrupted midway answering her questions. The ride was safe. It was people who overrode the ride safety setting that caused the accident.

[@chilli943]

The people who his company hired*. He is the Chief Executive, he is the figurehead, he gets paid to be grilled like this

[@jasminehawkins1507]

In 2019??? She sounded so desperate about the smiler (an amazing ride) being dismantled, what does that woman know about him or Alton Towers she is clueless I can’t stand to look or listen to her

[@mckaos666]

no need at all for the way she went on the staff and owner of alton towers have been nothing but fair and kind with dealing with this tragedy i couldnt fault them they have been honest and have helped best they could so for her to go on like this is just stupid she wants sacked

[@windogworld]

This reporter is HORRIBLE. Is she even listening? Does she understand what a "precaution" is? What is her problem?

[@rjo9113]

It beats me why is this slapper still working for Sky after the most appalling piece of journalism on television.

[@jamesharris8684]

Very close to punching the screen...

[@chuckfinley8748]

He doesn't know what happened. If the accident was caused by some rare series of events that nobody could have accounted for, then the safety standards are probably up to an adequate level for operating a park. As he said several times, the cause is unknown. They call him a liar for no reason and interrupt him every two seconds.

[@aaronheslin2919]

The guy held his own and acted professionally. Burley needs to be sacked badly, she seems to think she is Paxman. 13 mins of my life wasted.

[@heyitsrosie8178]

This woman made me very angry.

[@sammy2745]

This is annoying me even after 6 years 😭😭

[@Super240987]

Horrible journalism. Feel sorry for the guy. No need to hound him constantly get her off Sky news

[@matttweed8961]

This woman is awful, grilling this guy like it was his fault. Its since been proven that this was down to human error. Period.

[@copyer9088]

Kinda was his fault he pleaded guilty and took full responsibility for it happening

[@chilli943]

He is the Chief Executive of the group that hired & trained the employees who committed this atrocity. He was the Chief Executive who entered a guilty plea on behalf of his company. He is the figurehead and he should rightly be held to account