Commentator Ashley James joined co-presenters Ben and Cat Deeley to talk about whether women should pay less tax than men on the ITV daytime chat show.
As Ashley argued, there are still several fields where women are at a disadvantage to mean when it comes to their financial situation, including the pink tax.
‘[This] means that products marketed to women cost more than they do for men. And you can see this, and the studies about it. Whether it’s razors, deodorant, even more so if the packaging is pink.
‘But men’s deodorant costs less than women’s deodorant,’ she explained as Cat shared her agreement.
Ben then said: ‘Can women use men’s deodorant because my wife uses mine, so why don’t they just buy men’s?’
‘Well lots of people do, but lots of people don’t know about the pink tax,’ Ashley responded, as she continued her point.
The 50-year-old presenter’s comments left a bad taste in some people’s mouths, as they pointed out that he had missed the point Ashley was trying to make.
The Co-operative Bank released research in October 2024, which found that on average, across seven commonly purchased toiletry products, women paid nearly 40% more for their lower-cost essentials.
More specifically for deodorant, there was a 34% markup, with men’s costing 73p compared to the women’s at 98p.