Awkward moment BBC presenter swears on air when news program accidentally broadcasts her outtakes
BBC News accidentally aired a video of a presenter cursing while recording a report on the Northern Ireland data breach.
Correspondent Charlotte Gallagher made the X-rated comment in what appears to be a pre-recorded clip accidentally broadcast by TV controllers.
Gallagher broke the news about the massive Northern Ireland Police data breach, where the details of 10,000 officers were accidentally published.
And as she stumbled over her words while recording the clip, the frustrated presenter said, “I can’t figure it out…f***.”
Social media users reacted with a mixture of horror and humour, with one describing it as “any live broadcaster’s worst nightmare.”
BBC correspondent Charlotte Gallagher delivered a report on the Northern Ireland Police data breach in what appears to have been a pre-recorded clip
It soon became clear that the clip was an outtake not intended to air as Gallagher confused her words, became frustrated and swore
The clip was shot after newscaster Matthew Amroliwala cut another news item that could not be broadcast.
He said, “Sorry we can’t bring you that clip, but our correspondent Charlotte Gallagher has this report.”
In the clip, Gallagher begins to speak, but starts her sentence again, seemingly unfazed – suggesting that the clip is a pre-recorded video that was accidentally aired.
She said: “As the public face of the PSNI, Chief Constable Simon Byrne…as the public face of the PSNI, Chief Constable Simon Byrne has been under tremendous pressure because of this data breach.
“Today he said he was ‘deeply sorry’, describing the violation as, of…I can’t get my words out…f***.”
You could tell she pursed her lips and rolled her tongue over her teeth in frustration.
The sound then cut out and the channel went back to the studio, where Amroliwala said: “Well, apologies for that confusion.
“That was our correspondent Charlotte Gallagher, she follows what happens at that press conference.
‘We will find out more about that in the near future.’
Newscaster Matthew Amroliwala introduced the clip before initially apologizing for “confusion.” He followed up with a further apology for the ‘bad language’ shortly afterwards
Social media users were sympathetic to Gallagher after the pre-recorded clip was accidentally aired – more than one believed she would have been ‘mortified’ by her bosses’ mistake
About 20 minutes later, the anchor apologized on air for the mistake.
He said, “Now before we go any further, I want to apologize for the foul language you may have heard in a clip before.
“We played you the outcome of the press conference (where) we heard from the Chief Constable of Police of Northern Ireland, that data breach, and we went to our correspondent.
“We played a clip and there was foul language in it, so apologies for that in terms of what you just heard.”
The blunder was immediately picked up on X – formerly Twitter – with one user writing, “Charlotte Gallagher must be mortified… and furious. I know I would be!’
Another said, ‘Ouch! The worst nightmare of every live broadcaster and their managers.’
A third shared, “I feel like I just got a glimpse of your own personal hell.”
While another user wondered, ‘What the hell is going on on the BBC News Channel? It’s humiliating.’
But another praised both journalists, writing: “Bless her – I bet she was mortified when she realized that had gone out!” @amroliwalabbc cool under pressure as ever!’
The gaffe came after the BBC merged parts of its TV news operations earlier this year.
The BBC World News and BBC News 24 channels were merged in April, with dozens of jobs lost.