Influencer branded ‘selfish’ for saying she’s in Dubai during a pandemic to ‘motivate people’

An influencer is facing a backlash for saying she travelled to Dubai during the coronavirus pandemic to “motivate people”.

Sheridan Mordew, 24, defended her “essential” lockdown trip to film workout videos in the United Arab Emirates in an interview on This Morning on Tuesday.

She travelled to Dubai at the start of January despite her area being in Tier 4 restrictions at the time.

Mordew told presenters Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield: “I think in a world where you can be anything, be kind. My job is to help people get fit.”

Earlier in the show, the presenter said: “It’s not in the spirit of it, is it?… When we see someone like you out there beside a pool, we’re not in this together, it’s not in the lockdown spirit.”

Mordew replied: “I think what you’ve got to understand is it’s my job. My job is to motivate people.”

The influencer said she had been sharing free workouts on her Instagram account.

But Willoughby said a clip of Mordew riding a camel in Dubai made her feel jealous rather than motivated.

Schofield also seemed to mock her social media content: “What you posted there is essential.”

At the start of her segment on This Morning, Mordew said: "The reason that I come out to Dubai was purely for business. I am a personal trainer so a lot of the gyms are closed and everything was in tiers so basically I took my online business over to Dubai."

In response to much of the content being filmed in her apartment, Schofield replied: "A lot of this fitness stuff, this could be in your garage in Bolton. So you don't have to be in Dubai to do that.

"It looks like most of the fitness stuff is inside but the glamour stuff you post elsewhere is you sitting in a bikini on a sun lounger enjoying the sunshine."

The influencer, who runs the fitness business “Shape Up With Sher”, claimed that her clients depend on her for motivation and happiness, and added her mental health was suffering at home in the UK.

Mordew’s appearance on This Morning was criticised by viewers on social media.

Some highlighted the work of key workers and other influencers.

But others defended the trip.

Dubai's quarantine-free status was lost on 12 January after "a significant acceleration" in infections being imported to the UK.