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A straight man who claims 'painkillers turned him gay' caused outrage on today's This Morning.

Scott Purdy, 23, who says he was a hot-blooded heterosexual, is adamant that he became homosexual after taking medication for his broken foot.

Speaking to Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield, Scott revealed he dumped his girlfriend because he "craved male attention" after taking the drug Pregabalin and lost his sexual attraction to women.

Scott, who kissed a boy as a teenager but told him "this isn't for me" , claimed he lost his homosexual urges after coming off the pills.

However, resident doctor Ranj Singh believes Scott always had same-sex desires and the painkillers have just made him less anxious about his sexuality.

(Image: ITV) (Image: ITV)

When asked if this was the case, Scott said: "I never had [any] desires for men.

"It happened so recently and was so out of the blue, especially as I experimented at a young age."

He added: "It is very confusing to me. And right from the start I didn’t know if it was the pill [that] did this to me or whether it opened me up to be happier.

"I know from when I stopped doing it for that short time I wasn't happy feeling like this."

But Dr Ranj Singh, who is gay, said it was great that Scott was happy and argued his homosexual feelings were not caused by the painkillers.

He explained that Pregabalin is used to calm down nerves, epilepsy, pain disorders and anxiety - with side effects including alteration in sexual desire and ability to achieve orgasm.

Dr Ranj said: "Either way, what it probably does is allow you to express what was already there.

(Image: ITV) (Image: SWNS- Cambridge) (Image: SWNS- Cambridge)

"That's my professional opinion. This has allowed you, or given you permission, to be who you are."

He advised Scott, who said he will carry on taking the painkillers to keep his attraction to men, to not take the medication for any longer than he needs

Dr Ranj joked: "I’ve been on Pregabalin myself. I’m sorry to say it didn’t make me any gayer."

Dr Ranj originally identified as straight and married a woman in his 20s. But when he realised he was struggling to control his true feelings the couple split.

"I didn’t wake up one day and think 'Yay, I’m gay!', nor was it something I always knew," he told Attitude magazine, in 2015.

"What I did know was that my sexuality wasn’t as black-and-white as we are led to believe. That’s the reality about human sexuality - it’s not always simple."

This Morning viewers took to Twitter to praise Doctor Ranj and slam Scott.

One viewer said: "Well done Dr Ranj tell him what’s what"

Another added: "Brilliant! Dr Ranj - basically NO painkillers can not make you gay!"

A third said: "Talk about a coming out story! Is this guy not just proud to admit he was always gay, there isn't such thing as a magic pill"

Scott, who is currently unemployed and lives with his housemate in Louth, Lincs, has previously said: “I noticed my libido for women had gone and I was wanting male attention.

(Image: ITV)

“I was with a girlfriend I had been with for around six months. I had never been interested in men. When I was younger I was a little bit curious but…

“A couple of weeks after I started taking it I turned around and said I didn't find her physically attractive anymore. She knew I was taking Pregabalin.

“I said to her, 'I don’t really know what’s happening to me and I told her I like men and I just can’t be with you.'

“She was relatively understanding, as understanding as you could possibly be."

Pregbalin, also known as Lyrica, is manufactured by Pfizer - the pharmaceutical giant which also makes Viagra used to treat sexual dysfunction in men.

A spokeswoman for Pfizer said: "When prescribed and administered appropriately as per the approved label, Lyrica® (pregabalin) is an important and effective treatment option for many people living with chronic neuropathic pain, generalised anxiety disorder and epilepsy.

"The clinical effectiveness of this medicine has been demonstrated in a large number of robust clinical trials among thousands of patients living with these conditions. To date, the worldwide exposure to pregabalin is an estimated 34 million patient years.

(Image: SWNS- Cambridge)

(Image: SWNS- Cambridge)

"If you are taking a medicine and experience any unexpected side effects, we recommend that you immediately report these to your doctor or to another healthcare professional, such as a nurse or carer.

"The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) can also be contacted through its Yellow Card reporting system (https://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/).

"Patient safety is, and will always be, Pfizer’s utmost priority. We work with regulatory authorities around the world to continuously evaluate and monitor safety for each and every Pfizer medicine through ongoing clinical research, analysis and surveillance."

*This Morning airs weekdays on ITV at 10.30am