Claudia Winkleman Warns Parents About Halloween Costumes

TV presenter Claudia Winkleman reveals all about her daughter’s harrowing Halloween costume experience in a Watchdog interview.

Who could forget the trauma endured by TV presenter Claudia Winkleman and her family in October 2015, when her daughter Matilda suffered serious burns after her supermarket-bought costume caught fire?

The eight year old’s witch costume brushed against a candle while she was out enjoying the festivities with her mother. Months later, Claudia gave an interview to BBC’s Watchdog, revealing all about the moment her daughter’s dress went up in flames.

Now, the interview – which has accumulated more than five million views on Facebook – is doing the rounds again, as a warning to parents shopping for their children’s Halloween costume.

“It was like fire I hadn’t seen before,” she recalls. “I wasn’t aware a costume could go up like that. We couldn’t put her out. Her tights had melted onto her skin…”

Since the incident, MPs have demanded new fire safety standards for children’s fancy dress costumes – and for them to be reclassified as clothes rather than toys, to ensure they are fireproof. Although the outfits do have to pass a standard ‘flammability test’, this is designed for toys that burn a lot slower. Claudia has also started her own campaign, and a petition on the issue has more than 40,000 signatures to date.

Watch the full interview here, and be sure to take extra care this Halloween…