Bowls Championship interrupted by loud sex noises in awkward moment live on BBC

20 January 2024 , 16:12

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Harry Goodwin was playing when the sex noise prank happened (Image: BBC)

Viewers of the World Indoor Bowls Championship were left shocked after loud sex noises interrupted the action live on the BBC.

Harry Goodwin was playing against Stewart Anderson in the first singles semi-final on BBC Two on Saturday afternoon when the bizarre incident happened. Goodwin was about to release his bowl when the noise erupted, followed by laughter from the spectators.

Goodwin cracked a smile while the bemused commentator David Corkill reacted by saying: "Well, we have a problem somewhere. But, err, hopefully, we'll get it sorted out pretty quickly. It sounds like a sound issue, excuse the pun."

It is unclear what transpired at Potters Holiday Park in Hopton-on-Sea. The BBC told Mirror Sport they are looking into what happened, but it is not the first time the broadcaster has been struck by an apparent prankster.

Coverage of Liverpool's FA Cup match against Wolves was interrupted by the same sex noise back in January 2023. Back then, the noise continued for some time, with the broadcaster unable to find where it was coming from.

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A red-faced Gary Lineker was forced to talk over it, saying: "It is toasty in this studio, it is noisy as well. I am not sure if someone is sending something on somebody's phone."

Lineker and his colleagues later found a phone taped to the back of the Match of the Day set, with a spokesperson adding: "We apologise to any viewers offended during the live coverage of the football this evening. We are investigating how this happened."

YouTube prankster Daniel Jarvis, known as Jarvo69 or BMWJarvo online, later claimed responsibility for the prank – and he has done so again this time around. After retweeting several clips of the bowls gaffe, he wrote: "It was me hehe".

The majority of those writing on the social media platform seemed to find the funny side. One wrote: "Not what you expect from the bowls!" Another added: "Made bowls more interesting for all of five mins."

"As if the World Indoor Bowls just got Linekered live on BBC 2!!" another wrote. One person joked: "Absolute scenes at the world indoor bowls semi-final, where the average age of the crowd is 92."

Jarvis was handed an eight-week jail term suspended for two years for aggravated trespass in October 2022 after colliding with England player Jonny Bairstow when invading the Oval pitch. Back in 2016 he and three others were jailed for a total of 72 weeks after pleading guilty to two counts of threatening behaviour causing fear of unlawful violence after staging a fake robbery at London's National Portrait Gallery in 2015.

Felix Keith