Viewers In Stitches At BBC News Presenter's Desperate Attempt Not To Sneeze

A newsreader's attempt to hold back a sneeze live on air went viral earlier this week - where it was described by one user as 'the most British thing I've ever seen'.

On the BBC News channel, Shaun Ley temporarily halted his broadcast mid-sentence on Tuesday afternoon and it soon became clear to viewers that the 52-year-old desperately needed to sneeze.

However, rather than letting nature take its course, he managed to hold it back in a remarkably controlled manner.

Ley is a regular on BBC News, although his normal working hours are in the evenings. On this occasion, just before delivering a quote from Liberal Democrat MP Ed Davies, he very politely warned viewers: "Excuse me, I'm about to sneeze".

Ley was midway through giving updates in the fining of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak, for the pair's alleged breach of Covid restrictions last year.

Not wanting to distract away from the seriousness of the matters at hand, Ley brought his hand to his mouth, in an attempt to suppress the oncoming sneeze.

BBC

He successfully managed to stop himself from sneezing, before telling the watching audience: "I think I've got away with it".

Ever the consummate professional, the veteran journalist then resumed with his report as if nothing had happened.

However, 'sneezegate' was soon shared on social media, where fans were soon commenting on how quintessentially British the short clip was.

It was first shared by Ley's BBC colleague, Scott Bryan, who posted a video of the moment to his personal Twitter page.

He wrote: "This is the most British thing I have ever seen. The tension...the drama!"

Another fan was quick to comment that this wasn't Ley's 'first rodeo', before posting a video of his previous 'sneezing fits'.

In the follow up clip, we see a montage of the newsreader attempting to suppress sneezes in much the same way as he did earlier this week.

BBC

Bryan's original Tweet has since garnered over 20,000 likes on the popular social media platform.

This isn't the first time this week that BBC News reporters have driven them headlines themselves, however.

On Wednesday morning's broadcast of BBC Breakfast, Nina Warhurst vanished while giving her report on inflation rates from a warehouse in Birmingham.

It soon transpired that she had very nearly been knocked down by a passing worker on a trolley.