Presenter Steph McGovern was about to introduce a pre-recorded interview when the BBC series suffered the technical issue which temporarily took the show off air and caused a graphic to appear against a black background.
“Well, I met up with Ryanair’s head of marketing Kenny Jacobs to see what he had to say about this,” the BBC Breakfast host, 35, was heard saying.
No sooner had she completed her link then the screen cut blank before a random clip started to air on the programme.
The clip was clearly not Steph’s interview and the Watchdog swiftly cut back to studio, where the host was seen looking to the side as she spoke to presumably one of the crew about the gaffe.
Steph quickly realised that she was live on air and hastily turned back to the camera as she told viewers: “Well, we will be finding out what the boss of Ryanair – I wonder if he’s done a runner?”
She quickly added: “No, he hasn’t! He hasn’t! Don’t worry, I have pre-recorded it. He is definitely there and at some point [we’ll see it].”
Finally, it appeared the technical error was fixed and the interview was aired, showing Steph grilling the Ryanair executive over the allocation of seats on flights.
Tonight marked the first episode of the new series of Watchdog Live as the consumer affairs show looked at an energy firm’s tactics to make a sale and concerns surrounding the installations of smart meters in homes.
Along with the technical blunder, Steph was forced to apologise to viewers after airing a rather unsavoury investigation into the top coffee shop chains in Britain which revealed dangerously high levels of fecal matter in the ice cubes of drinks.
“Sorry if you were watching that while eating your tea,” Steph was heard telling the audience.
According to the BBC Wactchdog investigation, examination of iced water samples from Caffè Nero, Starbucks and Costa Coffee all contained faecal coliform bacteria.
It is thought that shop workers not washing their hands properly after going to the toilet has led to the bacteria getting into the ice.
The coffee chains are now taking further measures to combat the problem including deep cleaning their equipment and one even launched their own investigation into the matter.
Watchdog Live airs on BBC One on Wednesdays at 8pm.
Daily Express :: TV and Radio Feed
