Viewers praise BBC presenter who gave middle finger live on air after seeing full clip of what happened

Earlier this month an icon was born. Well, maybe more an icon landed herself in the spotlight.

Maryam Moshiri unexpectedly gave the middle finger live on air while presenting the BBC News.

The internet was absolutely alight as the presenter flipped the bird before giving the news bulletin.

Moshiri later apologised for the incident, saying she was ‘joking around’ and ‘pretending to count down’.

And then when she reached number one, that’s when she appeared on camera – obviously without realising.

Finally, we've got the full clip of what actually happened:

Moshiri was counting down her fingers in a pretty unusual way before that all-important middle finger ended up broadcasted live on BBC News.

She wrote on X while apologising: “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.

BBC

“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."

Since seeing this full clip of her unfortunate mishap, viewers have praised her as ‘an icon’ and ‘the moment’.

One even joked: “We should be celebrating her. The BBC should give her a raise!”

Another echoed: “If anything this just adds to her iconic energy.”

With others putting: “Get this icon headling Glastonbury.”

BBC

Some even pointed out: “BBC need to embrace the fact their team have fun to work, I think bloody brilliant.”

People want her ‘on all the news shows’ and others demand: “Use her for the NYE countdown.”

I mean, she’s an absolute pro anyway, Moshiri transitioned from having her middle finger up to being the professional newsreader, running through the headlines as if nothing had happened.

As iconic as it was, I guess it’s still a surprise to have a BBC presenter flipping you off when you’re watching the news.

Topics: BBC, Viral

Jess Battison

Jess is an Entertainment Journalist with a love of all things pop culture. Her main interests include keeping up with the Twitter girlies, waiting for a new series of The Traitors and losing her voice at a Beyoncé concert. She graduated with a first in Journalism from City, University of London in 2021 and has previously worked at MyLondon.

@jessbattison_