07 December 2023 , 08:33
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The jaw-dropping moment that a BBC presenter gave the middle finger to the camera while live on air was caught on camera.
Footage has gone viral of the moment BBC News reader Maryam Moshiri, who looks like she doesn't know she's on air, is seen flashing her middle finger up before she reads the headlines.
The clip shows her raising her eyebrows and tilting her head as she flips off the camera for a few seconds as she comes on screen as the inro music comes to an end. It takes her a few seconds to realise she's actually on air as she quickly pulls her hand away, makes a serious face and starts reading out the bulletin.
Going into a more serious tone, Maryam says: "Live from London, this is BBC News," before reading out the rest of the headlines for the programme. Maryam has today issued an apology over the mistake as she was caught making the rude gesture to the camera.
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Maryam Moshiri was caught with her middle finger up (BBC)She wrote on Twitter : "Hey everyone, yesterday just before the top of the hour I was joking around a bit with the team in the gallery. I was pretending to count down as the director was counting me down from 10-0.. including the fingers to show the number. So from 10 fingers held up to one. When we got to 1 I turned finger around as a joke and did not realise that this would be caught on camera.
"It was a private joke with the team and I’m so sorry it went out on air! It was not my intention for this to happen and I’m sorry if I offended or upset anyone. I wasn’t ‘ flipping the bird’ at viewers or even a person really. It was a silly joke that was meant for a small number of my mates."
The awkward incident occurred on the world feed of BBC News at 12 noon UK time on Wednesday. The channel in the UK was showing Prime Minister's Questions, with some of the headlines relating to that.
Viewers who saw the moment have since taken to social media to give their say. Some have said they found the moment unprofessional while others thought it was hilarious. One person said: "This isn’t satire, an actual BBC News presenter got caught giving the middle finger live. Maryam Moshiri summing up the professionalism currently at the BBC." "BBC News presenter gives viewers the middle finger. Haha! They really do hate us," another joked.
But this isn't the first time a BBC presenter has been caught giving the middle finger. The BBC had to apologise when popular weatherman Tomasz Schafernaker made the same rude gesture to the camera. Back in 2010 Tomasz was due to do the weather forecast when news presenter Simon McCoy joked: "Now we will have the weather forecast in a minute and or course it will be 100 per cent accurate and provide all the detail you can possibly want. I've just seen Tom Schafernaker preparing for it." However, it seems the weatherman thought he wasn't on camera as he raised his middle finger before realising what happened and appearing to scratch his chin.
Despite being caught in the awkward moment, the clip has since been viewed thousands of times and he quickly became one of the most popular weather presenters as a result.
The Mirror have contacted the BBC for comment.