A television sports presenter has apologised after a clip of her slurring her way through a live interview from the Winter Olympics in Italy went viral, pleading for public sympathy by saying “I shouldn’t have had a drink.”
Australian Channel Nine reporter Danika Mason said she had “misjudged the situation” by drinking ahead of her appearance on live television. The contrite presenter also blamed the altitude, the cold, and her failure to eat dinner for contributing to her viral report.
“I want to take full responsibility, it’s not the standard I set myself,” she said during another appearance a day later, adding she was “embarrassed”.
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was “pro-Danika” and there was “nothing to see here” suggesting she had been affected by jet lag and the time difference.
Mason appeared intoxicated as she stumbled over her words and talked about iguanas and the price of coffee as she reported on the day’s sports events, as Breitbart News reported.
“Literally like the price of coffee over here is actually fine, it’s more the price of coffee in the US that we’re gonna have to get used to. I’m not sure about the iguanas, where are we going with that one?” she said during her cross to the breakfast television show Today, external on Wednesday, apparently in response to comments from the studio hosts.
With glazed eyes she then stumbled through the rest of her sports report, mixing up her words as well as the UK and the U.S., while studio host Karl Stefanovic could be heard laughing in the background.
“Look the cold weather is a thing, right,” her co-host in Australia said unprompted afterwards. “You can’t actually move your lips.”
Mason, a prominent rugby reporter, appeared again on the Today show on Thursday morning to make clear she was disappointed and she had let the network down, her family down, and most of all she had let herself down with her sub-optimal performance.
After she delivered her live report, she told viewers she wanted to “take a moment, if that’s OK, just to apologise” for her previous appearance.
She thanked viewers for messages of concern and continued: “I’m OK, probably just a little embarrassed.
“Look, I totally misjudged the situation, I shouldn’t have had a drink, especially in these conditions, it’s cold, we’ve got altitude, and not having had dinner probably didn’t help as well. But I want to take full responsibility, it’s not the standard I set myself.
“So in saying that, I’m genuinely really sorry and I’m thanking everyone for those messages I’ve received as well.”
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