Media colleagues have taken to social media to pledge their support for the BBC's Royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell after he appeared to lose his train of thought during a live broadcast.
The BBC presenter, who has covered the Royal family since 1998, was doing a live piece to the camera following the birth of the baby Sussex.
He had to hand back to the studio early, apologising for his error.
READ MORE: Royal Baby – How the line of succession looks now
Giving his live broadcast, he said: "Now what of their son, baby Sussex, no name for him so far. The first Anglo-American birth in the British royal family, uh, now we know, of course, that uh ...
"Excuse me, just let me just collect my thoughts. The first Anglo-American birth in the British royal family, and it is ... it is certain, of course ... "I'm so sorry, let me just once again, uh, hand back to you, Ben."
Nicholas Witchell having a mare, LIVE on #bbcnewsten. Poor lad. Had to hand back to anchor Ben Brown early! #RoyalBaby pic.twitter.com/pxYNQ15yF1
— BigWatchLover (@BigWatchLover) May 6, 2019
Following the broadcast, news anchor Ben Brown continued the bulletin after the royal baby item was abruptly ended.
Many people leapt to Mr Witchell’s defence after the bulletin. His BBC colleague Jeremy Bowen said: “I’ve seen some snide comments about Nick Witchell. Please stop, they’re not deserved.
READ MORE: Meghan Markle gives birth to a boy, Buckingham Palace confirm
“He’s a respected and experienced broadcaster, doing his job. I don’t know what happened tonight but it’s certainly no reason to be nasty.”
I’ve seen some snide comments about Nick Witchell. Please stop, they’re not deserved. He’s a respected and experienced broadcaster, doing his job. I don’t know what happened tonight but it’s certainly no reason to be nasty.
— Jeremy Bowen (@BowenBBC) May 6, 2019
Sky News anchor Adam Boulton wrote on Twitter: “What just happened to Nicholas Witchell? Great reporter. Something must have been distracting him.”
What just happened to Nicholas Witchell? Great reporter. Something must have been distracting him.
— Adam Boulton (@adamboultonSKY) May 6, 2019
Viewer Paul McGlynn said: “Just seen Nicholas Witchell on a live BBC news broadcast, he had to pass back to the studio, one of the most experienced presenters so it wasn’t nerves etc, before he gets panned online can everyone at least wait until he is confirmed ok, he deserves that.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel