BBC presenter Jeremy Vine suffered a blunder as he began laughing while reading out a tragic story on his Radio 2 show.
The 58-year-old was telling a nostalgic story about an eight-year-old who was believed to be on boating with their family on the River Hull.
While reading out the letter, which detailed the moment a 12-year-old is said to have taken control of the vessell, Vine started to chuckle, saying “I don’t know why I’m laughing”.
However, he soon realised the contents of the message were about to take a darker turn.
Reading out the listener’s story, Vine said: “When I was eight, my parents had a boat on the River Hull, one day it rained and the river rose, my parents let my 12-year-old brother drive the boat, we were sunbathing on deck, I went to get a drink just as the galley caved in, because we had he done is accelerated…”
Starting to laugh Vine continued: “Into Tickton Bridge… I don’t know why I’m laughing….okay, this is not good.
“The collision took my mum’s arm off…blimey O’Riley….I didn’t see that coming,” said Jeremy.
The story ended with the listener saying they would have been “decapitated” had they still been on the boat’s deck. Jeremy ended the message saying: “Okay…well that’s slightly lowered the mood.”
The clip has since been shared on social media platform X, having been likened to an “accidental Partridge” moment – a reference to Steve Coogan’s Alan Partridge character.
One commenter said: “Purest Alan Partridge moment from Vine, here. Gold.”
To which Vine responded: “I can only apologise.”
Another social media commenter said: “You’re brilliant, Jeremy. Your show is always a excellent listen. Mistakes happen and I actually found it really funny even though I probably shouldn’t. Obviously what happened to the arm wasn’t funny, but it’s your laughter that makes me chuckle.”
