Ugo Monye left red-faced as studio pundits in stitches over TV nightmare

06 February 2023 , 15:42

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Ugo Monye was struck with the hiccups during a live Six Nations highlights broadcast

BBC presenter Ugo Monye was left embarrassed as he went through the ultimate broadcasting nightmare during his live coverage of Rugby Special.

The former England star-turned-broadcaster was struck by the hiccups at the worst possible moment on live TV - leaving pundits Sam Warburton and John Barclay in hysterics.

Monye was joined by former Wales and Scotland captains Warburton and Barclay to dissect a thrilling opening weekend to the 2023 Six Nations.

Wales were crushed 34-10 by Ireland in Cardiff, Scotland sealed a famous third straight Calcutta Cup win over England at Twickenham and a much-improved Italy almost downed joint-tournament favourites France in Rome.

But the trio were distracted by the former Harlequins back's misfortune as he left his colleagues in stitches with several hiccups throughout the show.

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The problems started when Monye was discussing the world's number one team Ireland ruthlessly dismantling Warren Gatland's Wales. He hiccuped, before composing himself to ask Warburton: "Well, Ireland certainly didn't miss a beat, especially in that first half Sam, 27-3 was the score at half-time, but what was the most impressive part of that half?"

He was then disrupted in flow as he was subjected to laughter once again from Warburton and Barclay when the topic turned to Wales lacking a cutting edge.

"So if Ireland are the prominent team in the world, the number one team in the world, it's what they do when they get into the 22, Wales had their opportunities [hiccup] and they also had their entries as well..." he said.

He hiccuped again on two more occasions before it got too much for Warburton in the studio. "I can't ignore those hiccups!" the former Lions skipper joked, with Barclay also laughing along. Red-faced Monye then protested: "I'm giddy!"

Former Wales captain Warburton couldn't contain his laughter

The duo giggled again as the hiccups returned to impede Monye after the highlights of France's narrow victory over Italy later in the show.

And Monye poked fun at himself after the broadcast as he shared a video on Twitter of Wayne Mardle's iconic "I can't spake!" darts commentary with the caption: "When’s the best time to get hiccups before doing live TV? Apparently 5mins before you go on air!! Thanks @samwarbuton_ @johnbarc86."

Monye returns to TV screens as he presents highlights of the second round of Six Nations fixtures at 6pm on BBC Two on Sunday.

Ben Parsons