Matt Shirvington is busted suffering one of his most embarrassing TV moments ever in footy throwback video
Former NRL stars are reminding football fans of the time Sunrise presenter Matt Shirvington made a gaffe while live on the radio.
Shirvington is the second-fastest Australian sprinter of all time and finished fifth in the 100 metres final at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
He then embarked on a career in television, becoming co-presenter of the highly popular morning news programme on Channel Seven.
Before that, he worked for a long time at Foxtel, where he was the surprise presenter of NRL matches.
Although he left the network four years ago, many of his colleagues are still active, including soccer and television star Matthew Johns.
He presents the popular show Sunday Night With Matty Johns, but is going to Paris as part of the Foxtel Olympics team.
In his absence, former Roosters and South Sydney forward Bryan Fletcher will host the show on Sunday.
Johns couldn’t resist grabbing his old colleague Shirvington by the scruff of the neck during the announcement on Sunday.
Jan: [reading an email] “I heard Fletch is hosting the show while you’re in Paris. Any tips for Fletch? Well, the first one, Fletch, that’s really important, is always know who you’re pitching to.”
Next, a clip is shown of Shirvo in his early years on Fox League.
Shirvington begins the segment by saying: ‘Thanks so much guys, we’ll see you at half time. Let’s now go to your commentators Matt Russell… sorry, Warren Smith and Greg Alexander. Sorry, Matt Russell and Ben Ikin. No, sorry. Matt Russell and Warren Smith and Greg Alexander, sorry, for that game at Parramatta Stadium.’
The panel of The Sunday Night with Matty Johns were in stitches after they played the clip of Shirvington completely messing up his lines
Shirvington appeared to be struggling with a faulty autocue during his time on Fox League, and was very unhappy when the series of errors were broadcast on television (pictured)
Shirvington left Fox Sports to join Channel 7 in 2020 and now co-hosts Sunrise, alongside Natalie Barr (pictured together)
The problem appeared to have been caused by a faulty autocue. With the camera still rolling, an angry Shirvington pointed at the device and made gestures to show his disapproval.
Johns then said of ‘Shirvo’: ‘But I’ll tell you, he’s doing well now.’
Fletcher: ‘He’s flying.’
Johns: ‘He’s great.’
The former Olympic sprinter began his television career in 2005 at Channel Seven as a presenter of the program Beyond Tomorrow, before moving to Sky News Australia as a sports presenter in 2010.
In 2013, he signed a contract with Fox Sports to primarily cover the NRL.
During his athletics career, Shirvington reached the final of the Sydney Olympics and remains the second fastest Australian sprinter of all time
Shirvington left Fox Sports for Seven in 2020 so he could commentate on the Olympics.
He had already left Fox League by then and worked more for Fox News, where he reported on all sports.
I was already thinking: “How do I get out of this?” [Foxtel]βWhat should I do?β βI would like to work for a commercial network for a while,β he said.
‘[Channel Seven boss] James [Warburton] called and said, ‘Look, we’ve got a change with Jim Wilson moving over to 2GB and that leaves a gap for our weekend sports stories. Would you like to do that?’ So I jumped at the chance.’
Shirvington had also filled in for presenters on Sunrise and The Morning Show until his big break came in mid-2023 when Sunrise presenter David Koch announced his retirement.
Shirvington said at the time that he had “mixed feelings” about taking on the role.
“Scared. So excited. Happy. I can’t tell you what an honor and privilege this is,” he said.
βI think I’m more nervous than ever, even for the Olympics.β