Channel 5 presenter Dani Sinha faced an awkward moment on air when she made several errors while announcing the death of singer Bonnie Tyler, who died this week at age 75. The 1980s music legend received tributes praising her 'extraordinary' vocals and sparkling personality, with one person dubbing her the 'funniest woman alive'.
Fumbled Name and Rustling Papers
Sinha stumbled over the name of Tyler's most iconic song, the 1983 hit 'Total Eclipse of the Heart', instead calling it 'Total Of Eclipse'. As she began the announcement, she paused to check her papers, which rustled audibly on the microphone. 'Singer Bonnie Tyler has died at the age of 75,' she said before the interruption. She continued: 'The Total Of Eclipse star had been previously placed in an induced coma after having emergency intestinal surgery near her home in Faro, Portugal. She was due to tour Europe later this year.'
Eyroll and Poorly Timed Clip
The segment then cut to a clip of Bonnie performing the song, with the lyrics '... Now I'm only falling apart.' The camera abruptly cut back to the studio, where Sinha was clearly not expecting to be on air. She was seen looking stern, rolling her eyes, and shaking her head to someone out of sight. Noticing the camera, she quickly moved the segment along. Viewers criticized the error-riddled delivery. 'Ouch that’s really bad. If you know they’re cutting back to you, keep it professional. Also, why was her mic still on to hear the papers rustling? Mess ups all round here,' wrote emmabrainofficial on Instagram. Tom Barnwell defended her: 'I think the presenter has been let down here.. just unfortunate whilst giving out this news but hey, mistakes happen and we’re all human.'
Technical Errors and Poor Taste
Many noted that Sinha was likely rolling her eyes at the technical issues. 'She was totally let down on autocue and the clip. She was frustrated with technical errors,' Christieamz_photography suggested. WilliamDyer31 added: 'I think the presenter was just having an off day where everything was going wrong.' Others pointed out that clipping the part where Tyler sings 'now I’m only falling apart' was in poor taste for a death announcement. This is not the first such slip-up; weeks earlier, the BBC's 1pm news bulletin showed a graphic reading 'David Hockney resigns' after the artist's death. Metro has reached out to Channel 5 for comment.
