By now many of us have experienced the joys and… unique challenges that come with working from home.
On one hand you get to video call your co-workers while secretly wearing your pyjama pants, but on the other, you have to put up with rogue family members or barking dogs in the background of your all-important work meetings.
Watch: Horoscopes in isolation. Post continues below.
But if you’re a television reporter broadcasting to millions of people around the country, there’s an even higher chance for something to go wrong. Or in these cases… very wrong.
In the past few weeks, reporters around the world have fallen victim to hilarious yet unfortunately timed video fails which now live on the internet forever. Ahhh the joys of live TV.
So to make us feel better about our own working from home fails (and to give us a much-needed laugh), here are five times reporters ran into a few mishaps while live on the air.
Behold.
Earlier this week, ABC News reporter Will Reeve appeared on Good Morning America for a segment about pharmacies using drones to deliver prescriptions to patients.
But at one point during the coverage, his camera accidently exposed that he was quite obviously not wearing… pants.
Yep, Will played the very risky game of wearing a suit jacket, button-up shirt and a pair of (very short) shorts for his morning broadcast. And people on Twitter were quick to pick up on it.
"Nice room. Nice shorts. 7/10," one person tweeted.
But the news reporter ended up taking the whole situation pretty well.
"I have ARRIVED," Will tweeted in response. "In the most hilariously mortifying way possible."
I have ARRIVED*
*in the most hilariously mortifying way possible https://t.co/2NQ85QEJVr
— Will Reeve (@ReeveWill) April 28, 2020
He also explained that he was, in fact, wearing shorts in preparation for a post-interview gym session.
“The camera angle, along with friends, family, and several hundred strangers on social media made me rethink my morning routine. Any sartorial tips from these people who are wearing a belt, trousers and shoes during their work video calls at home are most welcome.”
“Now, back to work. Wearing pants," he said.
A very crucial lesson indeed.
Even fellow Australian John Torode has fallen victim to an at-home cooking fail while live on TV.
The celebrity chef and MasterChef UK host was filming a live cooking segment on UK show This Morning, where he was teaching hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield how to make a breakfast muffin.
But while John was busy cracking eggs, his tea towel, which he had left on the stove, suddenly caught fire.
“John! Your tea towel’s on fire,” Holly called out.
“Behind you, John. You’re on fire. Fire, John,” added Phillip.
John either couldn't hear them shouting or the video was delayed because it took him a few seconds to notice what was happening behind him.
Meanwhile, Phillip and Holly were very much freaking out.
Thankfully, he quickly tossed the tea-towel in the sink and put out the fire.
At this point, John tried to casually continue on with his cooking as if nothing happened. “So now your eggs have steamed..." he continued.
But moments later his fire alarm went off and the cameras cut back to Holly and Phillip in the studio.
Poor John, we've all been there.... just not on live TV.
Spanish news anchor Alfonso Merlos also experienced a pretty major blunder, when a semi-naked woman walked into the background of his live shot.
Alfonso was appearing live on Spanish YouTube channel Estado de Alarma at the time and didn't seem to notice what was happening behind him.
But things got a lot more serious when viewers noticed the woman wasn't Alfonso's girlfriend, Big Brother Spain star Marta López.
The woman was found to be one of Alfonso's fellow journalists, Alexia Rivas, according to 20 Minutos.
The news anchor eventually appeared on The Ana Rosa show to explain the incident and apologise.
"If you think that my attitude has not been correct or that there are things that I have not done well, I have no problem asking for forgiveness, although my goal was not to harm someone else," he said on the show.
After the apology, Alfonso claimed he was no longer with Marta and is now dating Alexia.
But his girlfriend disputed this, saying they were together at the time and Alfonso 's behaviour was "unpleasant" and "shameful".
Alexia also addressed the incident in an interview with Socialite. "I didn't get into a relationship, he told me he was single. We have been [seeing each other] three weeks," she told the publication.
When it comes to working from home fails, none are quite as bad as Melinda Meza's (very) unfortunate mishap.
The Sacramento reporter was filming a segment on DIY haircuts which was airing across the city, when viewers noticed her husband taking a shower behind her. And a certain part of his body was very noticeably... unblurred.
It appeared Melinda had angled her camera to hide the fact her husband was having a shower, but she didn’t seem to notice that it was reflected in the mirror.
The footage shows an actual, real-life, visible peen but here is a creatively censored screenshot.
Neither Meza or her husband have commented on the... incident.
SSN reporter Jessica Lang also had an unexpected guest appear in the background of her at-home broadcast.
Jessica's mum, Diana, was behind the camera while helping her film a segment in her kitchen.
But seconds into the video, Jessica stopped mid-sentence after noticing her mum reacting to something or rather someone in front of the camera.
"What did you do, Mum?" she asks before turning around to see her dad doing a very dad thing and walk into the room half-shirtless.
"Dad, holy c***!" Jessica yells before the footage cuts out.
Jessica later shared the video on Twitter, which quickly went viral. "Work from home they said, it’ll be fine they said," she captioned the post.
Work from home they said, it’ll be fine they said. pic.twitter.com/e2eK6IH6r5
— Jessica Lang (@jessdlang) March 28, 2020
Why does this feel like something that could very easily happen to us?
Have you had any working from home fails? Tell us in a comment below.
Feature Image: ITV/ABC News.
