Experts claim Jessie Buckley's anti-cat stance could cost her the Oscar

Experts have claimed Jessie Buckley's anti-cat stance could cost her the Best Actress Oscar.

The Hamnet star admitted she made her husband ditch his pet feline - a confession that Hollywood executives believe could cost her an Academy Award.

"I don't like cats," Jessie, 36, told the Happy Sad Confused podcast last November, in an interview that went freshly viral this week.

"Cats are mean. My husband, when I started dating him, he had two cats - this is bad, I'm going to get cancelled."

She went on to explain that, after waging a battle for dominance with the pets, "I was like, 'it's me or the cats'. But I won. Sorry!"

Nominated for the Best Actress gong at this year's Oscars, Jessie's admission, coupled with poor initial reviews of her new movie The Bride!, could put her out of contention.

Emmy-nominated producer Sam McAlister told The Telegraph the comments could be enough to put Jessie out of the running for a win.

"I'm the proud owner of two cats, just like Jessie's husband, and the idea that someone would ask me to get rid of one is inconceivable, the cats would win," she told the outlet.

"It seems a very foolish thing to have commented on because not only do people love cats but they also hate the idea of celebrities thinking they can abandon them or take them back. It seems like a relatively trivial comment to begin with, but it could have a profound impact on the way people see her moving forward."

PR consultant Mark Borkowski had a similar reaction, explaining the "number one piece of advice" he had for celebrities was, "never comment on cats and dogs. No pets, particularly cats and dogs".

"People judge celebrities on their relationship with their pets and particularly it comes down to cats and dogs," he added.