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Original poster

What just happened with Nicholas Witchell on BBC news?

105 replies

MyOtherProfile · 06/05/2019 22:17

He was supposed to be saying something about the royal birthday but couldn't put a sentence together. He said excuse me while I gather my thoughts, then he had to just hand back to the studio.

Surely he cant be that overcome with emotion about the new baby? It made me wonder if something was wrong with him. Bit worrying.

OP posts:
AginNAgin · 07/05/2019 00:23

I think it was Sky News who even had a 'piece' about the child being mixed race - with a token American family with a mixed race baby.

No, I think he got confused somehow. Happens to the best of us. I've actually interrupted a meeting at work once where an argument was going on - to add some pearl of wisdom. By the time everyone had stopped arguing, I'd forgotten what said pearl of wisdom was lol. Tres embarrassing. I was a bit 'back to the studio' too on that occasion.

Original poster
MyOtherProfile · 07/05/2019 07:10

Ah well poor bloke. Hopefully nothing serious.

OP posts:
Al2O3 · 07/05/2019 07:13

Karma? I’ve always felt he was anti royal underneath.

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Original poster
MyOtherProfile · 07/05/2019 07:18

He certainly doesn't seem to consider himself one of them, as I always felt Jennie Bond did!

OP posts:
IhavetoD0something · 07/05/2019 07:36

Oh yeh Jenny Bond! I haven't lived in the uk for 15 years but JB gave the impression that she was on the queen's speed dial.

IhavetoD0something · 07/05/2019 07:37

Is she still a royal correspondent? Or maybe she works for the royal household now for 13k PA

EleanorReally · 07/05/2019 07:42

Just caught up with this Grin
It is the excitement of the moment.

LoafofSellotape · 07/05/2019 07:52

I think he was being given lots of instruction over his ear piece and told to hand back.

barryfromclareisfit · 07/05/2019 08:04

Horrible man. Can’t believe he still has that job. ’Anti-royal underneath’? There’s no ‘underneath’ about it.

PaperHead · 07/05/2019 08:14

I’ve always enjoyed the fact that he looks like he’d happily report on the guillotining of the lot of them. Grin

EskeewdBeef · 07/05/2019 08:24

I don't think it looked worrying. He fluffed his line then completely forgot which path he was going down. Every day must be like going into a job interview in that line of work - having to fill interminable silence by rambling on with no real idea of what might fall out of your mouth next.

flissfloss65 · 07/05/2019 08:27

I love the way he’s managed to upstage the event he was reporting on.

RosaWaiting · 07/05/2019 08:28

so as far as I can see, there's no comment so far on whether or not he's okay?

It did look to me as if someone had interrupted him in his ear piece and there was a worry about saying the wrong thing.

Clawdy · 07/05/2019 08:30

I imagine he turned a bit anti-Royalist from the moment he heard Charles's muttered comments about him. Strange to keep going for so many years after, though.

GirlRaisedInTheSouth · 07/05/2019 08:32

Just watched this on Twitter. Someone clearly told him to STFU via his ear pierce Grin.

Etino · 07/05/2019 08:32

Poor man, I’m not a avid royal follower, but I remember that clip from Charles- he said it to his sons and I remember thinking how mortifying I’d be if I found out someone had said that about me, let alone in public, let alone having to continue ‘working’ with them.

Etino · 07/05/2019 08:34

@PaperHead
«I’ve always enjoyed the fact that he looks like he’d happily report on the guillotining of the lot of them. grin»
😂

StealthPolarBear · 07/05/2019 08:34

It did sound like he just lost his train of thought. But surely he's been doing this long enough and at a high enough level that he vlcan cope with that.

PaperHead · 07/05/2019 08:48

That’s my theory Clawdy. He’s aware of a republican plot and he’s hanging on, gritting his teeth, as royal correspondent till he gets to say ‘And now we see Citizen Charles, formerly Prince Charles, descend from the tumbril...’ Grin

ssd · 07/05/2019 09:32

I don't like his sycophantic demeanor when he's talking about the royal family but I guess that's in the job description.

noodlenosefraggle · 07/05/2019 09:49

a bit off topic but it might have been better if the BBC had found a black/mixed race female presenter to present this news item and not a middle aged white man. It shows exactly what an uphill battle there still is in front of us

I can't imagine Royal Correspondent is the most prestigious of journalistic posts. Getting Naga Munchetty for example shoved in front of the Palace just because she's brown and a woman would be a massive demotion for her and humiliating tokenism of the highest order. Wasn't Nick Witchell given that job after some sort of Scandal? He does seem to be being eternally punished for some kind of misdemeanour!

englishdictionary · 07/05/2019 10:00

but it might have been better if the BBC had found a black/mixed race female presenter to present this news item and not a middle aged white man.

Would it? What would it be better to replace the royal correspondent based on his colour?

It shows exactly what an uphill battle there still is in front of us

And you have just shown that you are a huge part of the battle.

ssd · 07/05/2019 10:00

Bloody hell naga munchetty would run a mile from that job

FiremanKing · 07/05/2019 10:26

but it might have been better if the BBC had found a black/mixed race female presenter to present this news item and not a middle aged white man.

I’ve heard it all now!

How utterly ridiculous. How about we we only have Chinese people report on stories about Chinese people. Hmm

Let people do their job based on their skill not their skin cover. Not that I’m a fan of Nicholas Witchell, I just hate this ‘race card’ agenda.

Patroclus · 07/05/2019 10:37

He was being told to shut up about that subject, possibly having being granted certain access by Harry on the condition the media shuts up about race.

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