BBC Breakfast host blunder sees chicken offered microphone
BBC Breakfast star Charlie Stayt drew the ire of his co-host on this morning's episode as an awkward blunder saw him offer his microphone to a hen.
The exchange occurred during a segment discussing bird welfare with Adele Hall, a volunteer with the British Hen Welfare Trust. She had brought along ex-commercial bird, Agatha, who sat patiently on her knee during the interview.
Stayt was keen to assure viewers that Agatha was happy to be in the TV studio, asking Adele: "Can we do the welfare thing, because people might be thinking 'Hen in a TV studio? In these environments?'. How is she? She seems very calm."
Adele reassured the host she "is very calm" before sharing that hens are like "cats and dogs with feathers". She added that hens can pur, and that Agatha had been known to do so in the past.
"They pur?", exclaimed co-host Rachel Burden, before Stayt interjected with: "I didn't know whether you were joking or not."
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"If we went very quiet now, can we hear it?" asked Stayt, before deciding to take matters into his own hands. "I tell you what, shall I put my microphone..." he began.
"She's not purring at the moment, I thnk she's a bit overfaced," warned the guest as Stayt unclipped his lapel microphone, leaned forward and offered it to the bird as the studio fell silent.
There was awkward laughter after a few seconds of silence revealed there were no purs to be heard as Stayt insisted he "wasn't alarming" the animal.
Co-host Burden was quick to scold Stayt after the blunder, telling him: "High tech TV equipment is probably not the right environemnt for the hen to feel at its most relaxed," before moving the interview on and asked about the personalities of hens.
BBC Breakfast airs every day at 6am on BBC One. Episodes are also available on BBC iPlayer for 24 hours after it airs.
