Live sport often draws in enormous viewing figures and is one of the most lucrative opportunities for any channel to top the ratings, but it does not come without its risks – as numerous presenters have found out in recent years.
And powerhouses like the BBC are no different, after porn noises were heard throughout their coverage of Liverpool’s FA Cup clash with Wolves on Tuesday, as a result of a prank from YouTuber Daniel Jarvis.
But that is by no means the first time broadcasters have been left red-faced by blunders live on air for their viewers to see, and here Sportsmail takes a look at 10 of the most hilarious moments in the past.
Porn noises interrupt BBC’s coverage
Tuesday evening saw Wolves host Liverpool in an FA Cup replay, but it was not Harvey Elliott’s sensational strike that drew the most attention from viewers.
As they tuned in for the pre-match build-up to the game, fans at home will have been able to hear some very loud moaning noises coming from somewhere in the studio, with Gary Lineker and Co struggling to keep their composure.
After around 10 minutes, Lineker handed over to a smirking Alan Shearer in the commentary gantry as viewers were finally given a reprieve, although the veteran presenter clearly saw the funny side of the prank.
He took to Twitter to share a picture of the phone that had been playing the noises, with the caption: ‘Well, we found this taped to the back of the set. As sabotage goes it was quite amusing.’
Daniel Jarvis claimed responsibility for the stunt, posting a clip on Twitter of him placing the phone at the back of the BBC studio earlier in the day, as well as a video showing followers how he carried it out.
Gary Lineker was seen laughing throughout as a phone played erotic noises throughout the BBC’s coverage
Lineker shared a picture of the phone that had been producing the porn noises
ITV viewers miss Gerrard’s World Cup goal
Now cast your minds further back than Tuesday, to the distant days of summer 2010, when World Cup fever was once again gripping the nation ahead of England’s first match of the tournament, against the USA.
Although the game is perhaps best known for Rob Green’s awful clanger that led to a 1-1 draw, ITV viewers will remember that they were unable to see Steven Gerrard’s brilliant opener to the game.
With just three minutes on the clock, Glen Johnson had the ball in his hands to take a throw-in when coverage cut to a Hyundai advert showing cars in Argentina and Brazil colours play a football match.
But when scenes from South Africa did return, Three Lions fans were stunned to find their side were already in the lead, after a Steven Gerrard goal had put his side 1-0 up and was celebrating with his team-mates.
Steven Gerrard put England 1-0 up against USA in their first match of the 2010 World Cup but fans were unable to see the live broadcast
Viewers were denied the chance to see the goal after the broadcaster inexplicably cut to a Hyundai advert
Kamara misses red card
There is no TV gaffe more famous than Chris Kamara’s iconic ‘I don’t know Jeff’ moment on Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday, which has almost become an institution in its own right.
Jeff Stelling was clearly better clued in than his colleague, as he sent to the on-the-spot reporter for an update of Portsmouth’s clash with Blackburn at Fratton Park, asking for details on a red card that Kamara hilariously knew nothing about.
After Stelling asked who the sending off had been for, Kamara replied: ‘I don’t know Jeff! I must have missed that, has there been a red card?’
With his Sky colleagues in fits of laughter Stelling continued to try and get further information out of the much-loved Kamara, but to no avail despite repeatedly asking what had happened.
Chris Kamara’s infamous ‘I don’t know Jeff’ blunder on Sky Sports is one of the most famous TV gaffes
‘I don’t know Jeff,’ continued a laughing Kamara, before his presenter informed him that Anthony Vanden Borre had been sent off
But Kamara was not finished, and when Stelling jokingly asked him to count how many players where on the pitch on his fingers, he responded: ‘No you’re right, Jeff – I saw him go off but I just thought they were bringing a sub on!’
And as the camera cut away from a bemused, shrugging Kamara the raucous laughter of the Soccer Saturday could still be heard, and the blunder has now become a key segment of English football lore.
Inverdale’s slip of the tongue
John Inverdale’s radio broadcast of the Cheltenham Festival on 5Live in 2015 drew widespread criticism after the veteran presenter used a particularly colourful turn of phrase when reflecting on the career of former jockey John Francome.
A slip of the tongue saw Inverdale left embarrassed as he spoke to Francome and racing star Lizzie Kelly, who was taking the presenter through what it takes to be a professional jockey.
John Inverdale got the BBC in trouble with his bad language
‘You get wet, you’re mucking out, and it’s hard work.
‘But through all of that it’s a way of life that most of them wouldn’t swap, a lot of people go off and do other things and then come back to it.’
To which Inverdale replied: ‘This is looking at it through rose-c***ed, rose-tinted glasses from the past…
‘I apologise there for a slip of the tongue, but Lizzie your love of the sport just shines through.’
Kelly remained professional, however, and although she struggled not to laugh she replied: ‘Oh yeah, because, as I’ve said it’s very important to love it or you wouldn’t do it otherwise.’
Despite his insistence that the blunder was down to a slip of the tongue, the British broadcasting powerhouse was faced understandably with criticism from their viewers as a result of the poor language from one of their most experienced presenters, who ultimately left 5Live in 2019.
Inverdale sparks furore with Bartoli comments
But that was not the first time Inverdale had landed himself in trouble while live on broadcast for the BBC, having once again sparked furore for his comments on then-newly crowned Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli’s looks.
On the day of her memorable SW19 triumph in 2013, Inverdale could be heard by BBC viewers saying: ‘Do you think Bartoli’s dad told her when she was little “you’re never going to be a looker?”
‘”You are never going to be somebody like a [Maria] Sharapova, you’re never going to be 5ft 11, you’re never going to be somebody with long legs, so you have to compensate for that.”
Inverdale sparked a furore in 2013 when he said that Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli was ‘never going to be a looker’
‘”You are going to have to be the most dogged, determined fighter that anyone has ever seen on the tennis court if you are going to make it”, and she kind of is.’
Although he quickly apologised for his comments on air, and even wrote a letter of apology to Bartoli, he still came in for scathing criticism, with more than 700 complaints flooding in.
And rather than show that the presenter’s comments had any impact on her, Bartoli cast aside any claims that she had ever harboured any intentions of becoming a model, but that she had aspired to become a Wimbledon champion instead.
Inverdale (left) apologised for his comment about Bartoli’s looks at Wimbledon in 2013
That’s not Mane!
Fast forward to 2022, and Sadio Mane’s move to Bayern Munich from Liverpool had become one of the stories of the window, which could explain Sky’s over-excited insistence that they had snagged an exclusive interview with the player.
During a live segment on Sky Sports News, one of their German correspondents waited outside Bayern’s training base to get an exclusive interview with Mane and looked to be getting just that when a flashy car with tinted windows pulled up outside.
Egged on by his colleagues, the Sky Sports reporter then approached the vehicle to get some reaction from the man himself before one of the back doors swung open, leaving the suspension to build.
As the man emerged seconds later, Sky Sports presenter Vicky Gomersall excitedly says ‘There he is!’ only to then realise that he wasn’t the man of the moment.
Instead it was one of Mane’s entourage, leaving Gomersall to realise her gaffe and say, ‘oh no, hang on a minute’, with Mane exiting the vehicle on the other side.
Sky Sports presenters were caught out in a hilarious gaffe involving Sadio Mane, as he arrived at Bayern Munich’s training ground after completing his £35.1million move
The broadcasters were keen to get an interview with Mane and believed he would be emerging from a flashy red car after a door swung open
Instead, one of Mane’s entourage emerged from the car with Sky Sports’ presenters back in the studio gleefully saying ‘there he is!’ only to realise seconds later that it wasn’t the winger
Hipgrave’s FA Cup draw error
BT presenter Lynsey Hipgrave was forced to apologise after accidentally telling Chelsea fans that they would be in for a much sterner FA Cup test than they had anticipated.
Back in 2018,Hipgrave hosted the semi-final draw – which was shown on BT as well as the BBC – as former Chelsea players Petr Cech and Gianfranco Zola plucked out the balls to determine the fixtures of the final four.
And after the Blues had been drawn against Southampton, Manchester United were therefore slated to take on Tottenham in the other fixture.
But when summarising the draw, and having looked down at her notes to confirm, Hipgrave instead announced that Chelsea were ‘confirmed’ to take on Jose Mourinho’s Man United instead.
Lynsey Hipgrave was left embarrassed after incorrectly summarising the FA Cup semi-final draw – pitting Chelsea against Manchester United
Antonio Conte’s Chelsea would go on to beat United 1-0 in the final, with Eden Hazard scoring the decisive goal, but only after Hipgrave had apologised for leaving viewers extremely confused.
Her statement read: ‘That’s live TV, not my first mistake and certainly won’t be my last,’ Hipgrave wrote on her personal Twitter account in the aftermath.
‘Really sorry. Just checking you were all listening,’ she added.
Pardew causes uproar with Match of the Day remark
Alan Pardew is a name never far from controversy in football, whether it’s head-butting Hull’s David Meyler or getting caught up in xenophobia accusations from Arsenal legend Arsene Wenger.
But his career as a television pundit was cut short after after a shocking error on Match of the Day 2, which left viewers shocked and prompted 35 complaints to be lodged overnight.
The former Crystal Palace boss was talking viewers through a clip of Michael Essien’s impressive performance against Manchester City back in 2009 when he made the blunder.
Alan Pardew was caught claiming Michael Essien ‘absolutely rapes’ Ched Evans live on Match of the Day 2
And after footage of the Ghana legend shrugging off a Ched Evans challenge, Pardew said: ‘He’s a strong boy. He knocks him off – he absolutely rapes him.’
There was no apology on-air at the time, although a statement was released the following day, which claimed: ‘Alan Pardew apologises unconditionally for any offence caused by remarks he made in the Match of the Day 2 programme last night.’
BBC news ticker humiliates Man United
Back in May 2022, the BBC were once again forced to apologise after yet another embarrassing mistake that left viewers in stitches while watching BBC News.
Eagle-eyed viewers will have noticed the news ticker at the bottom of the screen had begun to show several comedic messages, including comments on the weather and one particular employee’s thoughts on Manchester United.
The mood from supporters around Old Trafford will understandably have been low after a string of disappointing results across the season left them finishing in sixth place in 2021-22, 11 points off fifth-placed Arsenal.
But the reminder of their poor displays live on TV will have been an unwanted addition to the miserable end to the campaign, with the BBC’s news ticker reading: ‘Manchester United are rubbish’.
The words ‘Manchester United are rubbish’ flashed up on the BBC News ticker at 9.35am this morning
These were followed by the words ‘Weather rain everywhere’, prompting confusion on social media
A red-faced BBC presenter later apologised for the error, claiming that the culprit was a trainee being taught how to use the ticker.
‘Just while we are on the subject of football a little earlier some of you may have noticed something pretty unusual on the ticker that runs along the bottom of the screen with news making a comment about Manchester United and I hope that Manchester United fans weren’t offended by it,’ said Annita McVeigh.
‘Let me just explain what was happening – behind the scenes someone was training to learn how to use the ticker and to put text on the ticker so they were just writing random things, not in earnest, and that comment appeared.
But rather than complain, many viewers saw the lighter side, and praised the broadcaster for their accurate reporting on United’s fortunes.
Hoddle’s BT Sport blunder
And lastly, a slip of the tongue from Glenn Hoddle left BT Sport viewers double-taking to make sure they hadn’t misheard the former ex-England and Chelsea manager’s comments over his former side.
With the Blues securing a 2-1 win over RB Salzburg in the Champions League, they continued their eight-game unbeaten run under Graham Potter, who had only taken over from Thomas Tuchel a month earlier.
And in explaining that the strong run of form would have left the side in high spirits, Hoddle accidentally misspoke, saying: ‘When you’re winning, and on an unbeaten run then it’s a happy c**t – camp! – and it should be as well.’
As the England legend makes the error, the presenter can be seen raising their arm instinctively, as if to stop the unintentional gaffe from coming out of Hoddle’s mouth, but the damage had already been done.
Glenn Hoddle accidentally called Chelsea a ‘happy c**t’ rather than a ‘happy camp’ live on BT
