BBC Breakfast presenter Rachel Burden was left embarrassed on Thursday morning after mixing up her days during a live broadcast at 6am.
The 51-year-old broadcaster made the mistake immediately following the regional weather segment while introducing the early morning episode of the flagship show.
Welcoming viewers to the programme, she said: "Good morning, it's Sunday the 20th of... no it's not! It's Thursday! That's a good start isn't it!"
Her co-host Charlie Stayt, 64, quickly stepped in and added: "Let's start all over again."
Burden then corrected herself and continued the introduction, saying: "Thursday 20th of August, good morning everyone."
Burden has been a regular presenter on BBC Breakfast since 2015. The morning television news bulletin is broadcast live every day on BBC One and the BBC News channel, covering national news, sport, weather, and current affairs across the United Kingdom.
Thursday was not the first time the presenter has suffered a high-profile slip-up on live television. Back in 2024, Burden was called out for misidentifying the winners of the historic Boat Race, accidentally declaring Oxford the champions of the Men's River Thames clash instead of actual winners Cambridge. The annual rowing race between Oxford and Cambridge universities on the River Thames is one of Britain's oldest sporting competitions.
Radio 5 Live station reshuffle
The live television mistake comes shortly after major upcoming changes to the presenter lineup across BBC broadcasting were announced. Last month, it was revealed that fellow BBC Breakfast host Naga Munchetty will take over from Burden and Rick Edwards on the BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast show in December.
Burden has presented the weekday morning slot on BBC Radio 5 Live, the BBC's national news and sports radio network, since 2011. She almost broke down live on air as she reflected on her decision to step away from the morning radio programme.
Holding back tears during her broadcast last month, Burden told listeners: "I have some news to share, with you, ah, I really need to try and keep it together. I said I'd keep it together!"
She continued: "We have been working together on 5 Live Breakfast for five years now, and I have been co-presenting this show for over 15 years. And I have loved, I think, almost every single minute of it."
Explaining the decision to step down, she added: "But we have both been thinking a lot in recent months about what comes next, and I guess how we meet sort of shifting priorities in our lives."
Schedule changes and presenter controversies
Confirmation of the roster changes was also published on social media by the station. In a post shared to their Instagram grid, Radio 5 Live wrote: "Breakfast hosts, Rachel Burden and Rick Edwards, announced this morning that they will step down in December."
The station added: "Naga Munchetty will become the new co-presenter of 5 Live Breakfast, taking the helm of the station's flagship morning programme five days a week from January 2027."
As part of the schedule adjustments, Burden will transition to a new slot on the network. Radio 5 Live confirmed: "As part of the changes, Rachel Burden will move to present the weekday mid-morning programme, Monday to Wednesday 11-2pm, following 15 years on the station's Breakfast show."
Munchetty is set to depart BBC Breakfast after 17 years with the television show to take up the flagship morning radio role. She will disappear from television screens to take over the radio slot from the new year, having previously hosted 5 Live's weekday mid-morning programme since January 2021.
The transition to a full-time radio job follows a series of controversies involving Munchetty. Her future at BBC Breakfast was thrown into doubt last year when a formal probe was launched over allegations that she had bullied a junior staffer.
