Spare a thought for BBC reporter Ben Thompson who struggled to keep his clear phobia of snakes a secret while live on air.

The journalist, 41, was leading a broadcast when he informed viewers he was about to share a story that he clearly had no desire to cover.

Addressing viewers directly, he said: ‘[If you’re scared of] snakes, look away now – I’m not quite sure how I can tell you this next story because I hate snakes.’

‘So I’m going to do it like this,’ he added, before placing his script in front of his face.

‘What you can see there is actually a Florida duo, they’re known locally as The Glades Boys, capturing what is, the longest ever recorded Burmese python in the US state.

‘It weighs 125lbs, 19 feet in length and is now, officially, a record-breaking catch.’

BBC presenter Ben Thompson made his fear of snakes pretty clear (Picture: BBC)

As the camera cut back to Ben, his head was still down with the paper over his face.

‘Has it gone yet?’ he then asked producers, before being reassured it had and then moving on to an ad break.

Those watching the clip later threw their support behind Ben, saying they understood his trepidation.

The report shared details of the capture of a massive python (Picture: BBC)

‘This would absolutely be me,’ one person posted on Twitter.

‘A very endearing, human moment,’ someone else wrote.

Another simply added: ‘Yikes!’

After the moment unsurprisingly started to make the rounds on social media as more and more people witnessed Ben trying to carry out his job while clearly un-nerved, he was happy to poke fun at himself soon after.

‘ICYMI: inform, educate AND entertain they said,’ he joked on Twitter.

It’s been a busy week for Ben after he also got attention for his attempts to play a flute live on air when appearing on BBC Breakfast.

During a discussion on the rising popularity of the instrument due to pop star Lizzo, Ben thought he’d give it a go on TV.

Despite his best efforts though, the presenter failed to get a single note out, leading to Sally Nugent having to cut him off and move on as they ‘had a news programme to present’.

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‘Look away now.’