Viewers were left in stitches when a BBC presenter fluffed her lines live on air. Alexis Green was reporting live from Oxford regarding recent flooding when she forgot what she was wanting to say.
The unfortunate mishap came after in-house South Today newsreader Jo Kent introduced Alexis, who was stood by the River Thames. All seemed to be going smoothly at first as weather presenter Alexis, wearing a black puffer, said: “Residents here have learnt to live with flooding over the years and some say the 2007 floods were the worst they’ve ever experienced.”
But proceedings took a dive as Alexis seemingly suffered an embarrassing memory blank. She tried to continue as she said: “Now, with a warming climate, rainfall is expected to become heavier and more persistent in the future.”
However, she then started stuttering, continuing: “Which is why people here have taken matters into their own homes, hou-, own, own, hands.”
She was visibly flustered as she changed her thought process all around to say: “Basically, to protect their homes and their businesses.” While her words got jumbled, it was her actions that got viewers at home laughing.
Alexis was seen mocking her own mistake as she curled her lip and pointed her head. While the camera quickly cut to a prerecorded take as Alexi walked along the river, the mishap was surprisingly kept in the version on BBC iPlayer.
Fans then reacted on social media, with one Twitter/X fans writing: “One wrote: “@AlexisGreenTV we love you as much as we love live TV.”
“Alexis Green.exe has malfunctioned,” joked another. A third wrote: “Her expression,” alongside two laughing emojis.
It’s far from the first time a presenter at the organisation has suffered such an awkward moment. In 2023, BBC Breakfast’s Ben Boulos mistook retail analyst Teresa Wickham’s dystonia symptoms for nodding.
Their interaction went viral on TikTok and Teresa said the incident actually helped in raising awareness about the condition.
According to the NHS, dystonia is “the name for uncontrolled and sometimes painful muscle movements (spasms)”. The health organisation says the condition is usually a lifelong problem, but treatment can help relieve the symptoms.
Symptoms include uncontrolled muscle cramps and spasms, shaking and uncontrolled blinking. Ben revisited this awkward moment a year later while catching up with the expert to talk more about her condition.
Opening the segment in December last year, Ben admitted to co-host Sarah Campbell how “mortified” he felt after misjudging the situation. He said: “The thing about this job that we do is that if you say something wrong, put your foot in it, it can very easily go viral.
“Remember, you were here with me when I introduced a guest on Zoom, noticed she was shaking her head, and assumed she was just disagreeing with me in disbelief. But then, I commented on it, and she kindly clarified that she actually has a brain disorder called Dystonia, which causes involuntary muscle spasms making her head shake. I couldn’t have been more embarrassed about it. It spread like wildfire.”
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