BBC Newsreader Mispronounces Jeremy Hunt's Name, Swaps 'H' For A 'C'

How many times have people mispronounced your surname?

Answers presumably vary greatly depending on what your surname is; Alan Smith has had to deal with it far less than Polish winger Jakub Błaszczykowski, for example.

The surname 'Hunt', though, is surely nearer the Smith end of the spectrum. Yet, countless newsreaders have mispronounced Conservative politician Jeremy Hunt's surname down the years. Weirder still, they always seem to mispronounce the name the same way - exchanging the 'H' for a 'C'.

A clip of the most recent slip of the tongue was shared on Twitter on Monday.

In it, the BBC newsreader says: "The British government has repeatedly called for her (Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe) release, the foreign secretary, Jeremy C*nt summoned the Iranian ambassador to discuss the issue."

What sets this particular blunder apart from the usual Hunt hiccup is the sheer conviction with which the newsreader mispronounces the surname.

Ordinarily, those who exchange the foreign secretary's surname with the most offensive word in the English language hastily splutter to correct themselves. For example, in June, Justin Webb made the classic cock-up on the Today programme on BBC Radio 4.

He said: "The paper says that health secretary Jeremy C*nt ... Hunt is understood to favour a cap on social care."

See - rapid realisation, quick correction; that's the usual procedure.

But not this newsreader, who if anything seems to emphasise the 'C' before boldly continuing to read from the teleprompter, unflinchingly.

... It's almost as though it wasn't a mispronunciation at all.

Surely, though, newsreaders are almost beyond reproach for this slip-up, considering how pervasive it has been across the media through the years (watch the first video if you need proof).

A classic example took place in the summer of 2017, when the beeb's political reporter, Ellie Price, started Hunt's surname off with a big clunky 'C' while reporting live from outside 10 Downing Street.

It seems unlikely she got a bollocking either, as just days before the BBC's political editor, Laura Kuenssberg, dropped a 'C-bomb' during a live election broadcast. This time Hunt wasn't involved, though - it was a 'recount' that got the better of Kuenssberg.

We certainly hope these broadcasters don't get reprimanded for such errors. After all, they bring the flicker of joy we need when watching the news.

Topics: UK News, Funny, Fail, Politics

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey