The One Show's 20th anniversary special was thrown into chaos when it was interrupted by an emergency Government alert. Fans of the BBC magazine programme tuned in on Friday night (August 14) to see Alex Jones and Roman Kemp fronting the milestone episode.
Minutes into the special, Roman was explaining how former host Christine Lampard was returning to the studio. However, he was interrupted by a blasting Government alert about wildfires. It soon became difficult to hear what Alex and Roman were saying as the stars appeared confused about what was happening.
Stars React to the Alarm
While Roman pushed through and kept speaking, Alex shook her head and raised her hands, before she said: “You couldn’t make that up could you. Is that a fire alarm?” Looking at someone off camera, Roman asked: "Is there some sort of fire alarm?” He and Alex both agreed to continue before running through the rest of the segment introductions before the alarm cut out and Roman said: “Ok, it’s stopped.”
The alarm in question was an emergency alert sent out to the phones of people across England and Wales to warn communities from the growing threat posed by wildfires. It was sent out on a rolling basis from 7pm, warning people not to light anything that could spark a fire, including barbecues, campfires, and fireworks.
Wider Disruptions
Those who received the message were also urged to report any fire immediately by calling 999. Later explaining to viewers what actually happened, Roman said: “As you will probably be aware that was actually a wildfire alert on everyone’s phones. You would have heard it on the opening of our show, but as always we hope everyone is staying safe, of course.”
It wasn’t just The One Show which faced disruption, with attendees at a performance of Jesus Christ Superstar at the London Palladium getting a big shock as they were taking their seats ahead of the performance. Meanwhile, The One Show’s Clara Amfo and Angellica Bell also faced disruption for a separate reason. Presenting a segment outside, an ambulance could be heard driving past with its sirens on, nearly drowning the presenters out for about 15 seconds as they tried to speak.
Emotional Moments and Thanks
In spite of the disruptions there were still lots of emotional moments on the programme. Angellica broke down in tears while being reunited with some people she helped in past episodes, with Alex declaring: “Angellica doesn’t cry often, so that’s a result!”
Wrapping up the show, Alex told viewers “A huge thank you to the team and crew who work relentlessly hard on this programme to make it a brilliant show for all of you every day. Thank you for all of the guests for entertaining us, being so generous with their time and just being all-round nice people. Thank you to all of my co-hosts over the years. I’ve been so lucky to sit next to all of them.”
She added: “Lastly, thank you to all of you at home. You are the most important people in all of this. Thank you for being with us every weekday. It’s a real privilege for us all to be with you all at seven every night.”
