Fleabag actor Andrew Scott urged West End theatres to slash the price of their tickets or risk alienating young people or poorer people
Former Apprentice star Ryan Mark Parsons left fans gobsmacked after he weighed in on the calls to slash ticket prices in West End theatres.
In a heated debate over the cost of tickets on GB News, Parsons said: "If you're 16 to 25 and you can't afford the ticket prices, then there are lots of options to get cheap tickets.
"I don't think what he was saying to have two sale days per week is a good idea commercially for the theatres because they are so expensive to run.
"If you can't afford to go to the theatre, you should watch Netflix. I don't think you should lower ticket prices just because some people can't afford to go.
"Actors aren't being paid enough and it could cause theatres to shut down. They suffered so much during the pandemic that the West End is being starved of money."
Entertainment journalist Hayley Palmer argued that the tickets are just too "unaffordable."
She said: "I think it's really important that we support theatre.
"But for a family of four to go to the theatre it costs a couple of hundred pounds when they could just go on holiday. I don't think it's okay."What difference does it make if I say I'm not gonna go in the West End, but I'll go to the theatre in Milton Keynes, or I'll go to Woking, Belfast or wherever?
"So it's a shame because I think we should support the arts. I do. And I don't think we should just go, oh no, I can't afford it."