BBC News presenter Maryam Moshiri flashes middle finger to cameras live on air

A BBC news presenter was caught giving the middle finger live on air in a mortifying moment. Photo / BBC News

A BBC news presenter was seen flashing the middle finger while live on air in a humiliating moment.

Maryam Moshiri was presenting for the international broadcaster on Wednesday afternoon when the slip-up occurred.

While UK viewers watched on as Boris Johnson said sorry during the Covid-19 enquiry, global viewers were given the main headlines.

Moshiri was standing by to deliver the headlines but appeared to be joking with bosses behind the camera and pulled her middle finger.

Unaware that the cameras were rolling, Moshiri’s embarrassing blunder was caught on air and viewers were greeted with the rude hand gesture.

Moshiri seemed startled when she realised the moment had been caught on camera and scrambled to continue the show as if nothing had happened.

Maryam Moshiri flashed her middle finger to viewers live on air. Photo / BBC News

She quickly said: “Live from London, this is BBC News.”

Many people flooded social media with their reactions to the scene, with one viewer describing the incident as “disgraceful”.

Another wrote: “This your new organisation giving the middle finger to the people.”

“Maryam Moshiri summing up the professionalism currently at the BBC,” said a third.

While a fourth predicted: “Sacked in the morning! She’s getting sacked in the morning!”

The news anchor apologised to viewers in a statement posted on social media and revealed that she was pretending to count herself down until the cameras started rolling.

The journalist wrote: “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 [my] 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.

We're with you, Maryam. If you are struggling to see the countdown, let us know.

— Specsavers (@Specsavers) December 7, 2023

“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.”

In a hilarious quip, eyewear brand Specsavers commented on her apology tweet, saying: “We’re with you, Maryam. If you are struggling to see the countdown, let us know.”

It’s not the first time the middle finger has featured on a BBC News report.

In 2010, viewers were watching the weather forecast when Tomasz Schafernaker flashed his middle finger.

The gesture was a response to Simon McCoy, who was presenting the main news bulletin at the time and had made a joke at his colleague mid-show.