BBC world affairs editor John Simpson, 82, was caught on a hot mic asking BBC News presenter Geeta Guru-Murthy for a “kiss” after an interview celebrating his 60 years with the broadcaster. Both Simpson and Guru-Murthy believed the cameras were off at the time.
Hot mic moment after interview
Simpson, who joined the BBC as a reporter in 1970, was marking six decades at the corporation. After the interview, Guru-Murthy told him: “Thank you very much, that was really lovely.”
He could then be heard off-camera asking: “I couldn’t, I suppose, have a kiss?” Guru-Murthy smiled and said: “Oh, yes!” before going over to him, with kissing noises following as Simpson repeated: “Thank you so much. Really lovely.”
Cameras still rolling
Guru-Murthy then realised the cameras were still rolling as she returned to her seat, blushing as she said: “Oh, sorry, sorry! We are still on air! Sorry, I hadn’t realised that. This is BBC News.”
Viewers took to social media to share their reactions. One tweeted: “John Simpson caught live on BBC asking Geeta Guru-Murthy for a kiss, thinking the cameras were off. They weren’t.” Another posted: “WTF! 82-year-old BBC World Affairs Editor John Simpson CAUGHT on camera asking presenter Geeta Guru-Murthy for a KISS the moment he thinks the cameras are off!”
Previous controversy
In 2024, Simpson confessed he had a two-year affair with a BBC executive who was later unmasked as an alleged communist spy by the British press. BBC World Service’s Slovak director Terezia Javorska allegedly passed intelligence to the Czechs for years, but Simpson insisted she must have been coerced into doing so under threat of harm to her family.
He said she “genuinely loved” Britain, admitting: “To me, she was a victim of a clever, manipulative intelligence organisation, and of her own weakness. But maybe, of course, I’m still swayed by my affection for her.” Simpson said their two-year romance “ended years before she became a spy”, and he “didn’t meet her again”.
The BBC declined to comment when approached by Express.co.uk.
