Vernon Kay Apologises After Jimmy Savile Slip-Up On Radio 2 Breakfast Show

Vernon Kay has issued an apology after accidentally name-checking Jimmy Savile while presenting the Radio 2 Breakfast Show.

The former Family Fortunes host is currently filling in for Zoe Ball on her morning radio show, and during Tuesday’s broadcast he interviewed Soft Cell singer Marc Almond.

At one point during the interview, Vernon read out a message from a fan of Marc’s, who said the star’s music had helped him “through some dark days”.

“I saw him at Pride and I think I was the first one at Hyde Park to run down and wait for him at the front,” Vernon read out, before referencing his “duet with Jimmy Savile”.

“Jimmy Somerville, apologies,” he quickly corrected, after accidentally mentioning the disgraced former broadcaster.

He quickly added: “That’s a clip that we don’t want to… ever hear again. Apologies. Apologies. Jimmy Somerville… rewind.”

“So there you go, your music is really getting out there,” Vernon told the singer, who was still laughing at the gaffe. “Crikey, I’m never going to live that one down, am I? Eh? There’s a meme right there.”

“Moving on!” Marc swiftly added.

Following the gaffe, Vernon played three songs back-to-back, only for his phone alarm to go off in the middle of the morning’s traffic report.

“I think I should delete this half hour of radio,” he joked. “Can we go into BBC iPlayer and just get rid of it?”

After the show, Vernon responded to one fan who’d commented on the gaffe with a face-palm emoji, commenting: “Oh don’t!!! I could die!!!”

When another listener suggested the clip was “guaranteed to surface later”, he added: “For the rest of eternity!!!”

Over the weekend, Vernon was forced to step in at the eleventh hour to host this year’s Comic Relief telethon, after scheduled presenter Joel Dommett tested positive for Covid.

He also joined Matt Lucas and David Walliams in a revival of their Rock Profile sketch.

The Radio 2 Breakfast show airs every morning from 6.30am.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost UK and has been updated.

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