BBC News reporter forced to apologise as football fan interrupts live broadcast with foul-mouthed chant
A BBC News reporter was left mortified and forced to apologise after a football fan launched a foul-mouthed rant live on air.
BBC News correspondent Joe Inwood was at a Box Park in Croydon covering the England Lionesses’ World Cup match against China on Tuesday.
The team beat their rivals 6-1 in the end, and Joe spoke to a number of spectators in the Box Park to get their opinions on the tournament so far.
But things started to take a turn when one guy in the background decided to stick the V’s up repeatedly as he passed behind Joe.
That wasn’t the worst of it though, as moments later, Joe and the camera swung back around as he continued his segment and a rowdy football fan suddenly appeared.
The man had his arms stretched out above his head, with a cane in one hand and a beer in the other.
He chanted: “F*** the Tories” and Joe immediately put his arm in front of the man and then stepped ahead of him to block him from the camera and said: “Oh no! Sorry about that!”
As they quickly turned in a different direction away from the man, Joe continued: “I do apologise about that. I’m sorry about that.
“It can happen. It’s generally been a very nice atmosphere here but occasionally you do get people who might do something like that.
“So I apologise to any of our viewers who were offended by that language.”
Ever the pro, he carried on with his coverage for a few more minutes before handing back to the studio.
Later, he commented on a video of the incident which had made it onto X – formerly Twitter – and sarcastically joked: “It’s a personal career highlight!”