28 Showbiz Fails From 2020 We're Still Cringing At

Absolute state of it.
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2020 has been one giant fail in its own right, but it wouldn’t be a year in showbiz without some classic celebrity f*** ups too.

So get ready for your jaws to drop and toes to curl again as we bring you the year’s most memorable (for all the wrong reasons) fails from the world of entertainment...

This Morning viewer wins a holiday... to her hometown

Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby were left red-faced (and giggling, obviously) when the first ever game of Spin To Win gifted viewer Anne with an all-expenses paid trip to Edinburgh.

Sounds lovely, right? Except Anne lives in the Scottish capital.

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This Morning
ITV

Stormzy forget to take his slippers off before BBC Breakfast appearance

“I know… do you know what it is, I forgot. No I actually forgot. I’m an idiot.”

We think he owned it.

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Stormzy
BBC

Beyoncé’s latest Ivy Park collection looked ever so familiar

And the designs didn’t go unnoticed by a certain supermarket brand.

Wendy Williams ‘farts’ on TV. Blames it on a fish tank hose OBVIOUSLY.

Wendy Williams was renamed “Windy Williams” after seemingly passing wind live on her US daytime talk show. The moment soon went viral across the globe but Wendy subsequently tried to claim that the story was a load of guff, coming up with an elaborate explanation as to why a parp-like sound could be heard on her show. 

After claiming that someone must have “superimposed” a fart sound over the video, one of the show’s crew came forward with an even more unexpected version of events. “We were filling up a fish tank backstage and we didn’t have the proper hose. Air was just coming out and it was sputtering like someone was farting. So that’s what it was. It wasn’t Wendy!”

Okaaaaaay.

Toothpick for Nick Jonas

Nick Jonas’ performance at the 62nd annual Grammy Awards was memorable, just maybe not for the reasons he’s intended thanks to a stubborn piece of spinach lodged in the singer’s gnashers.

Well at least we know the singer eats his greens.

The Pussycat Dolls suffer unfortunate tech mishap live on The One Show

Nicole and the girls were all dressed up and had nowhere to go.

Gal Gadot and friends try to lift the world’s spirits. Fail.

We’re sure Gal Gadot had the very best intentions when she and her Hollywood mates recorded themselves singing lines from John Lennon’s Imagine in a bid to lift our spirits during the coronavirus crisis. But talk about failing to read the room.

Still, at least Joe Lycett was on hand to offer a far more suitable alternative...

Rita Ora was all of us exercising at home

When she wasn’t breaking Covid-19 safety rules and partying with her mates, Rita Ora could be found demonstrating how not to exercise at home.

John Torode starts kitchen fire live on This Morning

Things nearly ended in genuine disaster when John Torode fronted This Morning’s cooking section live from his own kitchen when a tea towel caught fire behind him – not that John noticed until a panicking Phillip Schofield started shouting at him to turn around.

Phew.

Oops! Britney burns her gym down

In April, the chart-topping singer revealed she’d been unable to use her home workout room, because she accidentally burned it down.

Britney admitted that the gym had caught fire after she lit “two candles” and “one thing led to another”. 

Oh Brit, and we thought we’d heard every excuses for getting out of doing exercise...

Tim Lovejoy takes a tumble on Sunday Brunch

Listen, we know it’s not big or clever to laugh at people falling over, but sometimes it sure is funny. Sunday Brunch presenter Tim Lovejoy had a spectacular tumble back in June and because of social distancing, his helpless co-host Simon couldn’t even help the poor chap.

Did you hear about the time Howard Donald didn’t meet David Bowie?

Back in July, the Take That star shared a black-and-white picture from a fan page on his Instagram feed showing the late music legend with his arms draped around himself and his bandmate Mark Owen.

“I was very nervous meeting David Bowie,” Howard captioned the snap. “I’m not so comfortable around other famous people and can get star struck quite easily, but he was so normal and down to earth which made me feel at ease.” 

But one Twitter user pointed out that the photo in question looked as though it had been doctored, and that Bowie’s face had actually been edited over Howard’s bandmate Gary Barlow.

Carol Kirkwood gets her doggers and joggers mixed up

Carol Kirkwood was basking in the early morning sunshine in Greenwich Park, back in August but unfortunately all that heat seemed to have a bit of an effect on the BBC Breakfast weather presenter when she got her words mixed up.

“Look at it,” she told viewers as the camera took a panoramic view of the London skyline. “The sun is beating down. We’ve seen lots of doggers.”

In a royal park, Carol? Surely not?

Nudist Reveals a little too much live on This Morning

This Morning viewers – and hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby – got a lot more than they bargained for when a nudist revealed a little more than was strictly allowed before the 9pm watershed. 

Roving reporter Josie Gibson paid a visit to a naturist site but while various items were used to protect the modesty of those around her, one chap standing behind a car door wasn’t quite positioned correctly and ended up flashing his bits and bobs to the entire nation.

BBC Breakfast’s Charlie Stayt throws weather presenter under the bus ahead of Rick Astley interview

When Charlie asked weather presenter Matt Taylor if he was a fan of the Never Gonna Give You Up singer, he replied: “Errr, not a massive one.”

Unfortunately for a clearly oblivious Matt, Rick was already live. Awks.

“Former Health Secretary Alan Johnson joins us down the line from hell.”

Emily Maitlis’ unfortunate slip of the tongue on Newsnight back in September was so 2020. The presenter was introducing former health secretary Alan Johnson who was appearing via video link from Hull. 

Except Emily didn’t introduce him quite as he was expecting.

“Former Health Secretary Alan Johnson joins us down the line from hell [laughs] Hull,” she said, before adding: “I’m never going to recover from that now am I?”

Gold.

Bake Off fly causes cake carnage

There were tense scenes as The Great British Bake Off returned to screens in September as the tent witnessed one of its worst disasters ever in the opening episode. 

Viewers of the hit Channel 4 show had their hearts in their mouths, following an incident involving contestants Sura and Dave, a pesky fly and a tray of pineapple upside-down cakes.

Accidents happen, but try telling Dave’s face that.

Chris Pratt fails to read the room with ill-timed joke about voting

Just weeks before the most important US presidential race of a lifetime, Guardians Of The Galaxy star Chris Pratt poked fun at celebrities who use their platforms for good with a joke about the People Choice Awards, urging his fans to vote for his film, Onward.

The actor, who has kept out of the political fray for most of his career, received immediate and swift backlash from his followers, who reminded him of what was at stake in the US election.

Dancing With The Stars suffers huge live gaffe as wrong bottom couple is announced

As far as live gaffes go, the US version of Strictly Come Dancing was up there with the best of them earlier this year. There was chaos as the results were revealed on Dancing With The Stars, which saw one couple told they were safe, only to later be told they were actually in the bottom two. 

Cue host Tyra Banks desperately trying to reconcile the error. Crrrrriiiinge.

Gemma Collins launches sweatshirt range… complete with massive typo

Que? Get Susie Dent on the phone! 

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Gemma Collins
Instagram

Actually, maybe don’t...

Countdown’s dictionary corner expert said she was “gutted” after her book - the ironically titled Word Perfect - was published with a series of typos.

Gogglebox star finds out the hard way that children and mini vacuum cleaners do not mix

Things got seriously (ahem) hairy for Gogglebox star Julie Malone when she had an unfortunate encounter with a mini vacuum cleaner and her own grandson. Things took an unexpected turn when the toddler struggled to hold the device, and ended up pointing it at his grandmother’s head, when this happened…

Margaret Thatcher tweets from beyond the grave

The former PM died in 2013 but that didn’t stop BBC News presenter Matthew Amroliwala highlighting a tweet about the US election... from Maggie.  

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away... a man in a t-shirt and jeans

The collapse of the Empire seems to have been especially hard on dress codes as eagle-eyed fans of The Mandalorian spotted someone definitely out of uniform in one episode of the Star Wars franchise. 

As Mando and crew invaded an old Imperial base in Chapter 12: The Siege, someone could be seen pressed up against a wall... decked out in jeans, T-shirt and a wristwatch. 

The intruder has since been edited out.

TV news programme was forced to apologise after stating the very-much-alive Bob Dylan had died

The Australian Today show referred to the legendary musician as the “late singer” during a segment about the auction of some of his documents.

Beverley Callard inadvertently insults Splash! host Vernon Kay on I’m A Celebrity

I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! viewers were left howling and cringing in equal measure after watching campmate Beverley Callard share her extremely candid views on the reality show Splash!, commenting it was the “most stupid programme ever”. Just one problem: Bev’s fellow campmate Vernon Kay was its host.

Director forgets to mute Zoom call. Insults actor’s home.

British director Tristram Shapeero issued a grovelling apology after it was revealed it was his voice that could be heard insulting Euphoria actor Lukas Gage’s apartment as he prepared for a Zoom audition.

“These poor people live in these tiny apartments,” the voice is heard saying. “Like I’m looking at his background, and he’s got his TV and you know...”

At this point, Lukas interrupts, stating: “I know, it’s a shitty apartment. That’s why give me this job, so I can get a better one!”

Posting the video on social media, Lukas joked: “PSA: If you’re a shit talking director make sure to mute ur shit on zoom meetings.”

James Martin meets his match with a blender

The TV chef showed This Morning viewers exactly how NOT to make cauliflower soup.