If wannabe TV presenters are looking for a crash-course in how to handle a show going wrong, they could do worse than watch today’s This Morning for inspiration.
The list of difficulties – both behind and in front of the camera – that happened today defies belief!
We’ll do our best to run through them one by one, starting with the biggest – when it wasn’t on TV at all.
Host Holly was doing her best to grapple with a humongous snake that had been brought on for a segment about I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!
But as the snake curled around her legs – and she became slightly more panicked – the show went off air entirely.
Citing an unspecified “issue,” the show was off for what felt like an eternity, and the announcer had no choice but to offer apology after apology while ITV technicians worked to sort out the problem.
When order was eventually restored, Phil and Holly made light of the incident – Phil firstly blaming the snake, which he said had escaped.
Read more: Debbie McGee’s stepson sparks Strictly Come Dancing homophobia row
He then pulled out a cable, and jokingly pulled the plug again – plunging the studio into darkness once more. But at least this time it was deliberate.
However, it wasn’t long before it happened AGAIN, leading viewers to take to Twitter in droves.
When the show was eventually back on schedule, Phil and Holly read out some of the messages and were able to treat it with a smile.
Elsewhere, cheeky showbiz host Rylan claimed that he was the one responsible for the huge technical foul-up, because he was upset at the Victoria Beckham interview being given to Alison Hammond rather than himself.
Things took a turn for the worse when whoever was responsible for the text on the teleprompter made an unfortunate mistake.
Read more: Richard Madeley slated for calling I’m A Celeb contestant “ugly”
In a segment about Prince William’s exercise habits, the unlucky writer mis-spelled his name, dubbing him “Price William” instead.
All in all, a day to forget for the folks behind the scenes at This Morning – and it can’t have been easy for Holly and Phil, either!