‘I’m watching BBC News? YOU’RE watching BBC News!’ (Picture: Gareth Barlow/BBC)
A BBC newsreader fell foul of the perils of live broadcasting like so many of his colleagues.
The unlucky host was Gareth Barlow, who first joined the BBC in 2014 as a reporter for Countryfile before working his way up in the organisation.
Gareth, 32, has been a senior reporter for four years, but even the best in the business can’t always escape from the inevitable nerves of live TV work.
When introducing the nightly bulletin on Sunday evening, Gareth got his words a little mixed-up and gave viewers a memorable introduction to the show.
‘Hello,’ he began, and everything appeared to be fine. But then: ‘I’m watching– I’m watching BBC News? I’m Gareth Barlow. You’re watching BBC News.’
The clip was then shared on X (formerly Twitter) by Gareth himself, who was able to poke some fun at himself, joking with his followers on the social media site.
‘Can someone please remind me who’s watching the news?’ he captioned the post, before sharing the short funny clip with his 11,700 followers.
In the replies, thankfully viewers could see the funny side, with one joking, ‘At least you didn’t forget who you were’, with Gareth replying, ‘Not yet’.
A radio host responding to the video of Gareth said the incident reminded him of the time he thanked himself for listening to his own show while live on air.
He wasn’t supposed to say that… (Picture: BBC)
Gareth quickly gathered himself and carried on like a pro (Picture: BBC)
Others recalled a scene from a later episode of the cult Channel 4 sitcom Peep Show – David Mitchell starred as Mark Corrigan for nine seasons.
In the episode, Mark attends a job interview overseen by a man named Robert Grayson. Due to the nerves, Mark calls himself Robert Grayson by accident.
Gareth started at the BBC as a reporter for Countryfile (Picture: Gareth Barlow)
Gareth’s mistake comes shortly after fellow BBC newsreader Lukwesa Burak forgot she was on air before performing a ‘big stretch’ and lifting her arms up.
Much like her colleague, she recovered quickly and stayed as professional as possible, but social media still saw the funny side of the incident.
Never one to miss a trick, TV critic Scott Bryan wrote, ‘Quite the surreal minute on the BBC News Channel just now,’ before sharing the clip on X.
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It’s happened to us all.
