An extended video shows the seconds leading up to BBC chief presenter Maryam Moshiri’s middle finger gaffe earlier this month – after the veteran presenter revealed how the slip-up was a ‘private joke’ with her crew.
BBC camera footage shows Ms Moshiri, 46, counting down from ten on her fingers as the team prepared to go live. The presenter makes a series of exaggerated gestures with her hands before reaching ‘one’ and appearing to ‘flip off’ the camera.
Ms Moshiri issued an apology after the end of the clip was broadcast live, going viral as a top of the hour BBC News bulletin on December 6 began with the presenter holding her middle finger up to the camera.
‘I was joking around a bit with the team in the gallery,’ she explained. ‘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 [sic] 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 […] I wasn’t ‘flipping the bird’ at viewers or even a person really.’
The extended clip showed the presenter counting down from 10 to one, as previously stated
The presenter gestures ‘two’ to the camera in a series of exaggerated gestures
The chief presenter seems to quickly realise she is live and snatches her hand away, adopting a more appropriate demeanor as she begins to read out the headlines
Ms Moshiri denied on Twitter today that she or the BBC had released the extended video.
‘So someone released the full video! It wasn’t the BBC who released this and it certainly wasn’t me!
‘But in a way I think I’m glad this is out there, as it shows I WAS having a bit of a joke with the crew during the countdown.’
‘Again, so sorry it went out on air. It was meant to be a private laugh.’
The post was viewed 6.5 million times.
In the comments, one user asked if she knew at the time it had been broadcast.
The presenter clarified she ‘had no idea until I started reading the autocue and the director said‘ I think that went out’.
TV personality Rylan Clark left a comment: ‘Babe, iconic. Wanna send u flowers to celebrate x’
Scottish singer-songwriter Amy Macdonald said: ‘We all loved it! Don’t apologise. Made my day’
Ms Moshiri received an outpouring of support after her apology was shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, on December 7.
BBC radio presenter Greg James wrote: ‘Apology rejected. It’s the best thing ever. You should be promoted if anything x’
Comedian Dara Ó Briain added: ‘You’re a legend, this stuff happens, so ignore anything other than people laughing with you. All the best, x’
Others suggested that the gesture showed a lack of professionalism, before the full clip was released.
One user wrote on Twitter, in response to Mr Ó Briain: ‘Could you ever imagine Moira Stewart, George Alagiah or Alistair Burnett doing something like this? How a once great institution has fallen!’
‘Oh relax,’ the comic shrugged back.
Ms Moshiri was announced as part of a new lineup of top BBC News channel presenters earlier this year.
She worked for 16 years as a presenter on various BBC business programmes, working on Radio 4 and BBC Breakfast news channels, and presenting the 8pm news roundup on BBC1.
Ms Moshiri became a BBC World Service and BBC News presenter in 2019, leading several flagship programmes before taking the chief presenter role this February.
In September, Moshiri made headlines with her hilarious impromptu depiction of a rare blue supermoon when a picture of the lunar event failed to appear on screen
In September, Ms Moshiri again made headlines with her hilarious impromptu depiction of a rare blue supermoon when a picture of the lunar event failed to appear on screen.
Thinking quickly on her feet, the presenter said, ‘I’m so sorry, I don’t have a picture to show you’ and held up her hands in a circle shape to represent the moon.
‘It looked a little bit like this,’ she improvised, rounding off the segment. ‘There you go. Super moon. Take care. See you in a minute.’
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