BBC reporter Katie Walderman had quite the 24 hours when she mistook this Eurovision super-fan for Finland’s entrant (Picture: BBC/Getty)
A BBC reporter has confessed to having gone viral for ‘all the wrong reasons’ after a memorable mix-up born from ‘Eurovision fever’.
Following a preview of the first semi-final on Tuesday, reporter Katie Walderman mixed up Finnish Eurovision entrant Kaarija (Jere Pöyhönen) with a fan who was wearing a pretty convincing lookalike outfit.
While chatting to Finnish fans about the country’s prospects in the competition – the final of which is on Saturday – Walderman stumbled across one particularly dedicated fan, who was dressed in a top similar to Kaarija’s staple luminous green get-up.
The outfit was so good, in fact, that Walderman mistook the delighted fan for the rapper himself.
Speaking to BBC North West Tonight on Wednesday about the moment, Walderman said: ‘What a 24 hours…I’ve gone viral for all the wrong reasons.’
She recalled seeing a man signing autographs and asking if he was ‘the Cha Cha guy’, referring to the Finish artist’s song.
The strapline underneath the interview had read ‘Kaarija – Finland entrant’.
A fan of Kaarija was wearing an identical outfit to his striking luminous green get-up (Picture: Shutterstock)
The moment will surely go down in Eurovision history (Picture: BBC)
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Walderman added: ‘I wished him luck for the semi-final – so I put them in my (news interview) package. Then I came off air last night and my phone just went boom and I was like, “Oh, no”.’
The BBC then showed Walderman’s interview with the real Kaarija, who luckily said he had found the mix-up ‘funny’.
‘It’s looking great, and I love it when people do the crazy Kaarija things,’ the rapper said.
‘It’s so weird, but I’m so happy because people give me so much support.’
Londoner Mae Muller is the UK’s Eurovision hopeful (Picture: PA)
Thankfully, the real Kaarija took to the stage on Tuesday night at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool and was among 10 acts to make it through to the final on Saturday.
Also seeing the amusing side of the bizarre situation, a BBC North West Tonight spokesperson said Walderman’s mistake had been ‘a case of Eurovision fever’.
The second semi-final is tonight and will give Eurovision fans their first glimpse of the UK’s performance.
More: Trending
Londoner Mae Muller, 25 – who’ll be closing the final on Saturday night – is giving us a preview of her entry I Wrote A Song.
Tune into BBC One from 8pm for all of tonight’s action, and at the same time on Saturday for the final.
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‘What a 24 hours.’