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BBC News anchor signs off with ‘I’m Ron Burgundy’ following autocue howler

A BBC News anchor suffered a hilarious autocue meltdown before signing off as ‘Ron Burgundy’ during a recent news bulletin.

Maryam Moshiri, who stunned viewers by giving the finger live on air last December, got in a spot of bother as she read the news on Tuesday morning (11/6).

Discussing the declining population of Hazel dormouse in the UK, she fumbled over an error on the autocue – prompting references to Will Farrell’s character, who notoriously read out the prompts verbatim.

Moshiri read: “Now they are known for their big eyes and for being sleepy”, before quipping: “Am I talking about myself here?”

She then went on to say: “No sorry, no. Over the last 20 years Hazel dormouse yes, Hazel dormouse have declined by about 70 per cent across the UK. It is hoped a new project which sees them re-released into their natural habit could help to restore their population.”

Maryam then interrupted herself to ask: “Is it habit or habitat? I am probably going to get emails about this. Well it is habit on the autocue so what can I say.”

She then signed off: “I am Ron Burgundy.”

It’s not the first on-air hiccup suffered by the BBC News anchor.

Maryam went viral last year after she was seen giving the middle finger to the camera on BBC News in December.

She was later forced to issue a grovelling apology where she blamed the ordeal on a joke between friends that wasn’t intended for broadcast.

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Jack Peat

Jack is a business and economics journalist and the founder of The London Economic (TLE). He has contributed articles to VICE, Huffington Post and Independent and is a published author. Jack read History at the University of Wales, Bangor and has a Masters in Journalism from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

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