This Morning viewers were left in shock as two guests revealed they clean and shop in their sleep on Friday.
In the show, Kelly Knipes, 37, from Essex and Anita Armitage, 41, spoke to presenters Mark Wright and Rochelle Humes about parasomnia – a term used to refer to abnormal things that happen to people while they sleep.
The revelations sounded so bizarre that many who tuned in were left questioning whether the stories were true – with some even believing the duo had made it all up.
‘Things that did not happen,’ one commented, while another penned: ‘Does anybody believe that made up twaddle.’
Kelly Knipes, 37 (left) and Anita Armitage, 40, appeared on This Morning where they discussed parasomnia – a strange condition that sees them clean and shop during their sleep
Viewers could not believe the two women’s stories, with many joking it must be made up as it was so bizarre
‘Remove the credit card, hide her pinny and lock her door,’ said another, while a fourth dubious viewer wrote:
‘Yeah right, I’ll try that one of the other half next time.’
Speaking to the presenters, Kelly revealed she’s spent £3,000 during her sleep-shopping habit – and once ordered £100’s worth of Haribo sweets – to the delight of her son.
On one occasion, she even ordered a basketball hoop and was left shocked when it was delivered to her house.
‘That turned up with the man with a clipboard for me to sign and I was like “what’s that?”‘ she recalled.
On top of her normal shopping, she explained that she once bought pepper pot – and £38’s worth of Asda cookie jars.
The busy mother said she believes her sleep-shopping stemmed from the stress of raising three children on her own.
The audience were bewildered by Kelly and Anita’s stories and some dubious viewers questioned the veracity of their claim
Mark Wright and Rochelle Humes listened to the stories of Kelly Knipes (pink top) and Anita Armitage (white top) and asked sleeping expert Sophie Bostock (right) for advice
Today’s hosts Mark Wright and Rochelle Humes were amazed by Kelly and Anita’s sleep-shopping and sleep-cleaning stories
Meanwhile, Anita explained she would wake up in the morning to a spotless flat, having spent the night scrubbing away.
She would have little memory of the cleaning spree, except for turning on lights or specific actions such as ironing.
‘Most nights I’m at the edge of the bed,’ she said. ‘Not so much cleaning these days but I’m conscious that I’m walking around the house all night so when I wake up, I’m exhausted.’
Anita also told how she had a frustrating experience while seeing her GP about her parasomnia.
‘They just wanted to give me sleeping tablets,’ she said. ‘I have no problem sleeping, It’s actually keeping me in the bed that’s the problem.’
She eventually turned to hypnotherapy in order to cope with the condition, but admitted she had to keep up with her treatment.
‘You have to keep on top of that,’ she explained. ‘ I have a recording to listen to at home.’
Kelly Knipes (pictured) said she once bought £100 worth of Haribo candy and £38 worth of cookie jars while sound asleep
Anita revealed she once got herself ready to go for a drive while fast asleep but was stop by her partner at the time
Sleeping expert Sophie Bostock explained that people could put obstacles in their way in order to make their parasomnia safer
Sleep expert Sophie Bostock joined the women on the sofa and explained: ‘You’re partly awake and party asleep.’
‘Most of this parasomnia tends to happen at the deeper stage of our sleep so there’s so conscious awareness, most of the time people won’t remember it at all.’
She continued: ‘You can put obstacles in the way to try and make this safer. People who eat or shop put locks on the cupboard doors.
‘You might want to hide your computer away or your phone, whatever you’re using. Make sure you don’t store your credit car details in your computer if you do this.’
Sophie continued that while people believe it’s a bad idea to wake up sleep-walkers, it’s necessary if they’re putting themselves in danger.
‘If they are a threat to themselves, it’s much better to wake them up than to leave them to do something that they might regret,’ she said.
‘But be very aware, they will be very groggy and extremely unsettled when they wake up.’
‘Some people might become a little anxious, some might be potentially a little bit aggressive. If you can, gently take their elbow, lead them back toward the bed.’