'This is huge!' BBC Breakfast's Charlie Stayt astonished as expert certain aliens exist

BBC Breakfast presenter Charlie Stayt was visibly stunned after an expert admitted he believes aliens exit. The 61-year-old returned to the red sofa with Naga Munchetty on Saturday (April 27).

Off the back of NASA's "potentially groundbreaking discovery" last year, Charlie revealed that James Webb's space telescope is being used to investigate "tentative" evidence of a sign of life on another planet.

The newsreader was already taken aback as he quipped: "You can't say those things lightly. That's very very significant." Learning more about the subject, the TV duo were joined by Nikku Madhusudhan.

Nikki is the Professor of Astrophysics and Exoplanetary Science at the University of Cambridge. He admitted to being "excited" about the findings, but also "cautious" about what the implications would be.

The expert explained: "This is the first time we are seeing an earth-like biomarker in a planet outside of the solar system." Clarifying for viewers, Charlie pointed out that a biomarker is the indication that life is existent.

Keen to get Nikku's opinion on the subject, the BBC presenter asked: "Do you think, not necessarily talking about the evidence, do you think there is life outside of what we know here?"

The professor responded: "In my personal opinion, there is a high chance that there is life elsewhere." Nikki said his reasoning for this comes from statistics.

"30 years ago we knew of no planet outside of the solar system. Today, our statistics says almost every star out there has a planet. so we are living in a profound time in the history of our species," he told the duo.

Based on their findings, Nikki said: "It almost feels like a certainty there's got to be some kind of life elsewhere." Charlie went on to discuss the implications of these findings, which Nikki branded "immense" and "huge".

The professor went on: "This is why we are extremely careful in making any statements of confirmation." Later in the interview, Charlie asked whether the expert had seen Kevin Costner's 1995 film Waterworld.

Naga broke out into laughter as the expert admitted he hadn't seen it, before Charlie went on to explain the premise of the film. "It's a film where the earth becomes all ocean," Charlie explained as Nikku simply nodded.

Viewers appeared distracted by Charlie's question as they raced to social media to share their thoughts. "Went from an interesting interview about life in the universe to the presenter asking if he’d seen Costners Waterworld," wrote one viewer.

Another added: "Can't stop thinking about Charlie's important question to the scientist about if he's seen Waterworld #BBCBreakfast." A third said: "Naga asking this exobiologist questions like a 5 year old child.... Then Charlie comes in with the clincher: "Have you seen the movie Waterworld"? Jesus. #BBCBreakfast."