The One Show host Lauren Laverne was compelled to apologise to viewers last night (Tuesday April 1) after some inadvertent swearing from Sally Phillips.
Lauren, co-hosting with Alex Jones, said sorry for the “fruity language” uttered moments earlier by the actress.
However, not all of those watching at home felt the profanity – which rhymes with ‘Eartha Kitt’ – was particularly offensive. And there was also the suggestion on social media that the watershed should be shifted to an earlier time to allow for more obscenities in the TV schedules.
The One Show host apologises for swearing
Sally was sat on the sofa with her Austin co-star Ben Miller to plug the new BBC sitcom – but accidentally used a swear word when gushing over another co-star, Michael Theo.
“He’s such a nice person, and he had such a thing about feeling that autism was only very narrowly represented in TV,” Sally explained.
Addressing representations of neurodiversity on TV, she continued: “Michael doesn’t have anything against the Young Sheldon creators, but he thinks that, you know, he has lots of emotions and he’s very generous, spirited and cares more about other people than himself, really. And so he wanted to reflect that a bit. And we consulted him all the way along, and stole a bit from his life his life. Let him rewrite and say things as he would say.
“And he’s so great. He’s truthful and adorable. We did have a word with each other, didn’t we, early on? We were like, ‘Oh [blank] he’s really good!’ We’re gonna have to raise our game.”
The conversation moved on to other topics. But within a few moments, Lauren offered her apology to viewers and the show momentarily diverted off track.
“Speaking of language, and a love of language, we should just apologise for any fruity language you may have heard there. Sorry about that,” she said.
As Ben erupted into laughter, Sally smirked and covered her face. A confused Alex asked incredulously: “Was it me?!”
And then fellow guest Claudia Winkleman joined in, joking she was at fault: “I think it might have been me. Yes, I’ll take it.”
‘Barely noticeable’
Over on social media, some X users remarked on the slip with a mixture of shock and amusement.
“Did she just say ‘[blank]’?? #theoneshow,” one posted, adding an open-mouthed emoji to their words to accentuate their surprise.
“Oops #SallyPhillips just dropped the S-bomb on #theoneshow,” commented another. “It was barely noticeable of course but I waited… and yes they apologised,” they added.
A third person advocated for a change in broadcasting protocol, writing: “Come on, ‘[blank]’ should be allowed before the watershed these days! #theoneshow.”
It’s not really a bad swear word in my view.
While someone else chuckled: “#theoneshow it’s not really a bad swear word in my view lol.”
And someone else indicated challenges traditional broadcasters face due to changes in the way viewers consume content could be mollified with a bit more bad language when kids are more likely to be watching.
They claimed: “If the BBC and TV generally want to compete with the streamers we need to move the watershed to 7pm. The world’s moved on and it’s too late to wait till 9pm for some ‘[blanks]’ and giggles #theoneshow.”
The One Show airs on BBC One on weeknights from 7pm.
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