- Guha has come under scrutiny after making a controversial comment live on air
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One of the pitfalls of working on live television is that once they have tumbled out of your mouth you can’t take your words back.
It is only human to make mistakes, and every broadcaster does, there’s no doubt about that. Isa Guha’s error this week was to say the wrong word in referring to India fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah as the Most Valuable Primate.
I know Isa and there would have been absolutely no malice intended. You will note that she apologised at the earliest opportunity, which you are told to do by those above you.
In fact, I’ve gone through this and from my experience you are not only told to apologise, but how to apologise, with your employers wording the apology. I cannot say if this has been the case with Isa, but that’s by the by, she has said sorry to anyone she might have upset.
The problem in this day and age is that people are waking up, waiting to be offended, and they let you know all about it when they are. What wonderful lives they must lead.
Historically, it has has been swear words that have caught out presenters and commentators on TV.
Isa Guha (pictured) referred to India’s Jasprit Bumrah as the Most Valuable Primate live on air
Guha quickly apologised for her comments about Bumrah (pictured), and she will have been told to do so by her employers
I landed myself in trouble with Sky Sports by mentioning National Orgasm Day, and the problem is that some people are waking up and waiting to be offended
Not me, though. My faux pas was simply saying something Sky Sports as a company didn’t like. What was it? I happened to mention on air that it was National Orgasm Day.
Being July 31, this was factually correct, but word came down from from upon high that such comment wasn’t appropriate and so I got a wrap on the knuckles, reminded of my responsibilities and advised it wasn’t the type of language they’d like to hear on their cricket coverage.
When a swear word comes out, you are generally in some form of trouble. Use of ‘bloody’ is just about passable, but you don’t want to go any further than that and certainly not as far as Andrew Strauss went, referring to Kevin Pietersen, 10 years ago.
When the distinctive tones of Strauss were picked up calling Kevin Pietersen a ‘complete c***’ from the Lord’s commentary box by those with the Fox Sports app watching MCC against the Rest of the World, thanks to social media it was round the world in minutes.
David Gower allowed the F word to breeze out during the fifth Ashes Test of 2019. ‘I haven’t got a f****** clue’, he said, seemingly unaware his microphone was on.
Gower is an extremely accomplished and experienced broadcaster, but the one thing that you’re told – and it’s drilled into you – is that the mic is always on. There’s always somebody listening somewhere, and they will pick it up. I use him as an example to emphasise that despite the warnings, you remain vulnerable to a slip-up.
Isa can apologise all day long, but the word’s now out there, and I know to my cost how damaging that can be, having been targeted by some malicious individuals over comments made privately.
I was very lucky that I had some very generous people who conducted an investigation on my behalf. Life goes on, and my take on Isa is that she simply said a word out of place.