Just like ‘BBC Radio 5’s Tony Livesey’, we have mistakenly despatched a imply message to the fallacious individual

So many of us have experienced that moment of fear when you realise a scathing message about a person that you meant to deliver to your closest friend has actually been sent to the very individual you were gossiping about.

Indeed, BBC Radio 5 Live host Tony Livesey apparently knows the feeling well after reports suggested he and his co-host Clare McDonnell have fallen out and refused to work with one another following a ‘message mishap’.

Tony is understood to have mistakenly sent an email to Clare, 57, criticising her presenting skills, which was intended for another colleague.

The pair, who have presented BBC Radio 5 Live’s drivetime show together for more than two years, then reportedly had a huge row which has left the station in ‘total chaos’. 

Earlier this month, the BBC confirmed it would be shaking up its presenter schedule permanently, with Livesey, one-time editor of Sunday Sport, shunted back to the late-night show on the station.

The source said: ‘She [Clare] no longer wants to work with him and that has caused total chaos at the station. People are being shifted all over the shop and into different slots, which isn’t going down well.

‘Clare is well within her rights to be angry – but it’s made the atmosphere at 5Live really frosty.’

Of course, Livesey isn’t the only one reportedly guilty of sending the wrong message to someone. Here, FEMAIL speaks to people who’ve been left mortified after hitting send… 

‘I REPLIED TO THE WRONG MUM ON WHATSAPP – NOW HER HUSBAND WON’T EVEN SAY HELLO TO ME AT THE SCHOOL GATES’

Mother-of-one Rebecca Tidy, 37, is a freelance writer and researcher, from Falmouth. She has a daughter, Mabel, six. 

‘My daughter’s school emailed parents about yet another outbreak of nits. As the mum of a six-year-old, I feel a sense of dread every time I hear the word “lice”.

‘There’s nothing worse than the thought of bugs in your child’s hair. My head itches just thinking about them.

‘I meticulously plait Mabel’s hair every single morning to deter them, but not all parents are this diligent. That day I was frustrated by the number of children with their long hair down in the playground.

‘Mabel had only just returned to school after catching a tummy bug from a girl whose mother sent her to class despite her siblings being home sick. I felt irritated that everyone else’s irresponsibility was harming my child.

‘This particular mum never put her girls’ long hair up either. I opened my phone intending to vent to a sympathetic friend and furiously typed out my message.

‘I complained that this mother always had time to style her own hair and apply make-up before school. Then I commented that she was quick to cast a disapproving eye over any women whose kids weren’t wearing the latest Frugi organic cotton dungarees.

‘An hour later, I realised I’d accidentally messaged the very woman I was venting about. The two blue ticks confirmed she had read it. I must’ve clicked on her name in WhatsApp without thinking.

‘I apologised, explaining my fear of nits, but got no reply. At school pickup that afternoon, I saw her talking to her clique, who kept looking my way. I was mortified, knowing my child still has to face their kids for years.

‘It was a few weeks before she spoke to me again and the atmosphere felt strained. Her husband won’t even say hello to me now! But on the plus side, her children now wear their hair up.’ 

‘I CALLED HIS CONVERSATION TRASHY – AND NO BACKTRACKING COULD SAVE OUR RELATIONSHIP’ 

Annette Kellow, 40, who is a journalist, from London, accidentally sent a less-than-positive note about a guy she was dating to him instead of her friend.

The writer told FEMAIL: ‘Dating George was a blast at the beginning. We had some fun dates, drinks and summer nights out in London. But then I began to notice niggling things.

‘Although he had a high profile job in the city, he would sweat the small stuff, quite literally.

‘He drove a Ferrari but said there’s no way he would spend £4 on a coffee as ‘it’s daylight robbery.’ 

Instead, he would carry his own little flask that stayed hot for hours. Sensible some might say, but infuriating when you’re sitting in a cafe with him and you’re the only one ordering.

‘He lived in a large house in central London but preferred to scour two-for-one meal deals on the internet so we could eat out for a steal. While I’m all for a bargain, at one particularly dodgy Thai restaurant I got sick.

‘But that wasn’t the only thing. He complained I didn’t text him enough, that I didn’t want to spend whole weekends with him, that I was hardly ever available.

‘As we’d only been seeing each other a few months and I’m a busy single mum, I found it all “a bit much”.

‘One day he started to harp on again that I never saw him. Through my annoyance, I decided to screenshot the conversation and send it to my numero uno gossip friend, Irene, in America.

‘I titled it “trashy convo”, as I felt he wasn’t understanding of my life. Apart from I didn’t send it to her but instead sent to him! The terror ran through me as he read it immediately. What had I just done?

‘I had to think quick! I decided to plan it like I meant it for him as I tried to bashfully backtrack.

I said, “Darling, I’m so sorry, I was a bit hasty by calling it trashy, but I know you want to enjoy your downtime, and I’m not always available.”

It fell on deaf ears though and he wasn’t pleased. Radio silence ensued from both of us and the next week he brought me back a pair of shoes I’d left in his car. He was still holding the same little coffee flask then too.

‘I, of course, divulged the whole story to my friend in America. While I was initially mortified, she called it “a blessing in disguise”, and as I began to enjoy my free time again, I realised she might be right.’

‘A COLLEAGUE DISTRACTED ME AND I SLAMMED DOWN THE ENTER BUTTON TO SEND’ 

Samson Dada, a 32-year-old writer from North West England, decided to call out the behaviour of his former boss to the Human Resources department.

Samson told FEMAIL: ‘Several years ago, I was concerned that my boss had been behaving erratically at work – his personal life wasn’t in great shape; he was going through a divorce after having an affair and it impacted how he behaved in the office.

‘From speaking to some of my colleagues, it was clear he’d been making us all feel uncomfortable – but they were too afraid to speak out in case it might have professional consequences for them. 

‘Essentially, our boss was a bit of a control freak; he’d micro-manage situations and want to get involved in the smallest issues in the office.

‘After enduring things for a while, I decided to email Human Resources and make my feelings known in an official capacity. 

‘My email expressed concerns that he took things too seriously and that he was letting his personal life affect his work.

‘When I was just about to send the email, in the address section, I typed in the first few letters of my colleague’s surname. 

‘Unfortunately, I then got distracted by another colleague talking to me and I slammed down the enter button without looking at the screen. 

‘Once I realised my error, I was horrified. It was too late to recall the email. 

‘How did he react? He didn’t tell me off for it, but he did give me a very stern look across the office. Needless to say, a few months later, I left the company.’