Top 10 Most Inappropriate Live TV Moments

We don’t have a clue who cleared Dorries to go on “BBC Breakfast” to talk to Charlie Stayt about Partygate on this fateful morning in 2022, and maybe nobody did, because it did seem like she was acting of her own volition. Then again, as Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport, broadcast interviews were her remit, so maybe she was wrongly trusted. Whatever the reason, this bizarre interview didn’t do anything to exonerate Boris, as she was cagey about whether she’d spoken to him recently, viewing that as a personal question. Strangest of all, though, is the fact that she doesn’t seem to be entirely sober at about six o’clock in the morning; or perhaps she’s always like that.

This bloke appeared on “This Morning” and only revealed the back of his head, trying to justify his offer of free rent in exchange for sexual favours. His whole defence was that as long as the women go into it knowing what they’re getting and what’s expected, he doesn’t think there’s an issue. But this is one case of many where you wonder why this debate is happening on daytime television before midday. Holly Willoughby was clearly appalled with the situation and thought that those people were being exploited, since it would obviously be harder for someone to turn down sex if the threat of eviction and homelessness is hanging over their head.

It’s no secret that the weather forecasts are often wrong, but whose fault is that? Well, if you believe Simon McCoy, the culprit is BBC weatherman Tomasz Schafernaker. During a link on a 2010 edition of BBC News, McCoy handed over to Schafernaker with a classic quip about the accuracy of the forecast, prompting Schafernaker to flip him the bird. Unfortunately, the cameras cut to him just a bit too soon, and he was broadcast doing this live. He hastily tried to cover it up, but everybody saw. It’s just one of many Schafernaker blunders, like the time he broke down during a forecast over forgetting where Edinburgh was.

It was the 2017 election, and Jeremy Corbyn was in the constituency of Islington South and Finsbury to support Emily Thornberry, who was soon to be made his Shadow First Secretary of State. Thornberry won her seat, as did Corbyn himself in Islington North, and the two celebrated in front of the cameras. Notoriously, Corbyn went to high five and Thornberry didn’t see, so he missed and planted a palm right on her chest. She didn’t seem too fazed by it and it was clear to onlookers that it was a mistake, but it’s gone down as a legendary Corbyn gaffe.

In order to celebrate Ben Shephard’s triathlon successes in 2016, producers at “Good Morning Britain” thought it’d be a good idea to let him take the plunge into an ice bath live on air to try and help his aches and pains. Things quickly take a turn for the strange when he gets into the bath and drags poor Kate Garraway in with him. Is this an appropriate way to behave on television? Not really, but Kate didn’t seem that bothered by it at the time. It’s always rude to pull someone into a body of water if they don’t want to be in there, though Ben was quite clear that he also didn’t want to get into the bath.

Just what was going on here? Your guess is as good as ours, but it’s clear by the look on Fearne Cotton’s face that Wogan, usually unimpeachable, crossed a line. While bantering about how nervous they were to announce the winner of the UK’s 2007 competition to pick our next Eurovision entry, he seemed to make a pass at her. She was certainly not expecting that, but quickly composed herself. The same can’t be said for Wogan, though, who went on to infamously announce the wrong winner. Going by the long, awkward silences, it seems like he couldn’t hear the gallery.

Who could forget Iris Jones? She appeared on “This Morning” more than once to talk about her unorthodox relationship with a much younger Egyptian man, and didn’t hold back. But popular as Iris may be, it’s still true that this was airing on ITV live before midday and it certainly was shocking. Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield tried to rein her in, but there was nothing to be done. She told the entire country the lurid details of her first night with Mohammed and what kind of paraphernalia they’d used in the pursuit of pleasure. Inappropriate at this was, though, people loved her, because the producers kept booking her.

Another groping incident, in this clip also from the 2017 election, BBC reporter Ben Brown was conducting an interview when a passerby approached. He moved her aside but his hand found its way onto her breast, which she understandably didn’t take kindly to. She slapped him on the arm and then walked off while he ignored her. It didn’t look like he did it on purpose since he wasn’t even looking at her when he shifted her aside, but it was still a very strange moment. What was in the water in 2017 that meant this kept happening during live broadcasts?

To be fair to Gordon Brown, he didn’t know that his microphone was still broadcasting – but that’s not really an excuse for being rude. After a long exchange with a member of the public called Gillian Duffy, Brown got into his car and headed off without removing his microphone, and was recorded by Sky News calling Duffy a bigoted woman. They later played it to her and filmed that, too, which led to Brown having to pay her a personal visit and extensively apologise. But equally, Duffy WAS saying offensive things about immigration on national television, so who was really in the wrong?

Another bizarre “This Morning” segment, in 2025 a couple came on to test so-called “female viagra”, a drug that was supposed to enhance a woman’s libido and give her a stronger sex drive. To be fair, this was a follow-up to an even more lewd item in 1998 where, right after the introduction of actual viagra, couples tested that, too, with ITV paying for them to go to a hotel in the middle of the day and report whether they’d managed to get a rod on. The experiment was repeated and one willing couple headed off to a hotel and then came back two hours later, saying that it had been a roaring success.

Let us know in the comments whether you saw any of these moments live, and which blunders we missed.