Brian Taylor’s interview with Ash Barty and Steph Gilmore was awkward and demeaning

A Channel 7 star has been criticised by footy fans after his light-hearted interview with superstars Ash Barty and Stephanie Gilmore fell flat.

Channel 7 star Brian Taylor has been criticised by footy fans for his part in an awkward pre-game interview with Ash Barty and Stephanie Gilmore as part of the build-up to the 2020 AFL Grand Final.

Aussie tennis champion Barty’s emphatic celebrations and cheering for the Tigers have gone viral this finals series and even resulted in her being handed the honour of presenting the premiership cup to the Tigers after they beat Geelong by 31 points on Saturday night.

Aussie surfing superstar Gilmore earlier this finals series attended the Gabba with Barty to cheer on the Tigers, but has previously declared her allegiances lie with Geelong.

Taylor couldn’t quite get his head around that particular fact when he spoke to the pair inside the rain-soaked Gabba.

It made for some awkward pauses during the exchange — and footy fans accused Taylor of being the reason for the interview falling off the rails.

“Steph, why Geelong,” Taylor asked, despite Gilmore wearing Richmond colours.

A sheepish Gilmore responded: “Well, I think Ash has raked me into the Tigers fans today”.

Taylor replied: “Didn’t you visit Geelong and that turned you into a Geelong supporter?”

Gilmore confessed Barty is apparently very persuasive.

“Yeah, but today I’ll go for the Tigers,” she said.

Taylor tried to keep the interview light-hearted but some footy fans took to Twitter to claim Taylor’s line of questioning was “demeaning”.

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Brian Taylor, that interview was so demeaning. Asking Steph Gilmore if she’s actually been to any AFL games & if she even knows the rules. Give me a break...

— Minx (@DJ_Minx) October 24, 2020

@7AFL BT interview of Ash Barty was rude and obnoxious. Get him off TV. #afl #AFLGF

— Sir Jasper Myrtle (@SatwaSir) October 24, 2020

When asking about Barty’s role in the day as a premiership cup presenter, he also referred to Barty as a “football meat head”.

His questions to Gilmore were also criticised.

“How many games of footy have you been to, Steph?” Taylor asked.

He also asked what Gilmore knew about the sport and what came into her head when she first thinks about footy.

Taylor signed off the interview by joking: “I think these two might go have a wine”.