A Good Morning Britain presenter suffered an embarrassing on-air mishap when he didn’t realise the cameras were rolling due to a technical issue.
Thursday morning’s episode saw Richard Madeley and Kate Garraway hosting the breakfast news programme, with the pair discussing the main headlines of the day.
Reporter unaware he was on air
During a segment about a “tragic incident” on the Essex coast on Wednesday night – where it was later announced that a teenage girl and woman in her 40s had died – the presenters attempted to cut to reporter Jay Akbar, who was presenting live from the scene.
“Jay Akbar, can you give us the latest?” Madeley said, with Akbar, who was stood at West Mersea beach near Colchester, clearly unaware that he was on air and unable to hear the anchor.
Instead, he stared blankly into the camera, before turning his head to yawn. Apologising on Akbar’s behalf, Madeley said: “Oh I’m sorry, he’s obviously got comms issues there. We will try again later.”
Moment caught by viewers
The moment that was captured by viewers on X but appears to have been edited out of the episode on catch-up service ITVX, with the Standard contacting ITV for confirmation.
The pair were more successful when they returned to Akbar later in the show, with him informing the hosts: “The coastguard says they did attend a ’tragic incident’ here yesterday. There was a huge emergency response at West Mersea beach following reports that people were seen struggling in the water.”
Another awkward moment this week
ITV’s flagship news show, which airs from 6am to 9am on weekdays, has found itself at the centre of another awkward on-air moment this week.
During Wednesday morning’s episode, Reform UK MP Robert Jenrick was overheard calling his interview with Ed Balls and Susanna Reid on the show ”a waste of time”.
Appearing via video call to discuss the scandal surrounding Reform leader Nigel Farage’s £5 million gift from Thailand-based billionaire Christopher Harborne, Jenrick ended the interview and, not realising his microphone was still on, could be heard saying: “That was a waste of time.”
After a couple of seconds of silence, Balls retorted: “I think it wasn’t a waste of time. Robert Jenrick gave us very clear answers on the police investigation; it’s not a waste of time for him to make clear that he believes there’s no police investigation. It was good he came on the programme.”
