Etiquette expert questioned for going 'too far' with his 'correct' way to eat cereal with fork and spoon

An etiquette expert has been questioned online after posting a video instructing people how to eat cereal.

William Hanson frequently shares tips on etiquette and manners on TikTok.

These range from the more practical, such as advice to remove headphones before speaking to someone, to the slightly more tongue in cheek such as what a British person says, versus what they actually mean.

He also posts a lot of videos advising his 3.2 million followers on the best way to tackle various foods while out and about.

After all, things like shell on prawns might be a bit of a challenge, and are probably best avoided on a first date, especially if they're garlic prawns.

But one video of how to eat a particular food has seen people taking to the comments to claim that this time, he's gone too far.

Think you know how to eat cereal? Think again (fcafotodigital/Getty)

Sat at a fancy-looking table with an extremely fancy-looking bowl, Hanson explained on the best way to eat that breakfast staple - a bowl of cereal.

You might think that you've managed to master this, milk in, spoon in hand, but Hanson advised using another rather surprising utensil.

This, oddly enough, is a fork.

He said: "With a spoon held in your dominant hand and a fork in your non-dominant hand, you now eat.

"Now, it’s not soup, so you don’t need to scoop away from you like you would with soup."

But what about the fork?

Well, it's used to help you to get those flakes onto the spoon of course!

"But you can use the fork to push some cornflakes onto your spoon and eat accordingly," Hanson advised.

It seems that viewers had some strong thoughts on the clip.

Would you eat cereal with a fork? (mrs/Getty)

"I'm sorry but isn't the fork a little unnecessary," one wrote. "That's like if I were to try to use a rake to shovel the snow onto the shovel."

Another said simply: "William, I can’t defend you any longer."

Meanwhile, a third pointed out a potential faux pas - eating cereal out of a bowl meant for pasta. Oh, the humanity.

"Teaching cereal etiquette while eating it from a pasta bowl feels delightfully rebellious," they wrote.

Metro consulted another etiquette expert, Jo Hayes, who praised Hanson, but admitted that this might be a little much.

"God bless William Hanson," she said. "I love this man and, as a general rule, align with his approach to modern etiquette standards. However, on whether this is typical, the answer is, no.

"I have literally never seen anyone eat cereal with a spoon and fork and I have attended many a hotel breakfast dining room, and many a formal corporate and business breakfasts."