A BBC News presenter has apologised after being caught raising her middle finger to camera during a live broadcast.  

Veteran news anchor Maryam Moshiri made the gesture – accompanied by a mocking expression – on Wednesday afternoon at the start of a news bulletin. 

After realising she was live on air, Moshiri quickly regained her composure before proceeding with a news item about former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. 

The clip quickly went viral, drawing both amusement and condemnation from viewers. 

In an apology on X, formerly Twitter, the presenter said she had been “joking around a bit with the team” and hadn’t intended to offend anyone.  

Moshiri said she was pretending to count down on her fingers as the show’s director counted her down from 10 to zero. 

“When we got to one I turned my finger around as a joke and did not realise this would be caught on camera. 

“It was a private joke with the team and I’m so sorry it went out live on air! It was not my intention for this to happen and I’m sorry if I offended or upset anyone. I wasn’t ‘flipping the bird’ at viewers or even a person really. 

“It was a silly joke that was meant for a small number of my mates.”

Some social media users were quick to call for Moshiri’s resignation while others used the incident as an opportunity to attack the BBC. 

One commentator called the broadcaster a “toxic working environment” while another said their family would not be renewing their license fee unless the presenter resigned.   

Moshiri’s gaffe was, however, met with amusement from many other commentators – including some self-confessed BBC critics.

While several people called her actions “hilarious”, others dismissed the need for her to apologise at all.

“Don’t apologise, double down and repeat it”, said one user, while others used it as an excuse to create new memes based on images taken from the broadcast.  

This isn’t the first time an error has happened live on air at the BBC. In 2006, a clip of a man being interviewed live on BBC News 24 went viral after it emerged he had been mistaken for an IT expert while visiting the studios for a job interview.  

Meanwhile, in 2012, two of the corporation’s most experienced hosts mispronounced the surname of then Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt live on BBC radio within hours of each other.