News presenter accidentally calls Jeremy Hunt “Jeremy C**t” live on air

20 October, 2022

Jeremy Hunt

ITV’s Robert Peston mistakenly said “Jeremy Cunt” in reference to Jeremy Hunt while live on air.

The political editor of ITV News accidentally made the slip-up during his talk show Peston on Wednesday (October 19) while discussing the turbulent events in Parliament.

Speaking about the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s planned cuts to public spending, Peston said: “That means the hole in the public finances is bigger than it would have been, and Jeremy Cunt’s – Hunt’s – cuts will be more painful.”

Hunt’s name has been subject to many expletive mishaps in the past, including in 2017 when he was appointed to remain as Health Secretary in Theresa May’s cabinet re-shuffle.

On the same night as Peston, Channel 4 News presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy said “what a cunt” following an interview with Conservative MP Steve Baker, which was heard on an off-air audio feed.

In a tweet following the incident, Guru-Murthy wrote: “After a robust interview with Steve Baker MP I used a very offensive word in an unguarded moment off air. While it was not broadcast that word in any context is beneath the standards I set myself and I apologise unreservedly. I have reached out to Steve Baker to say sorry.”

Channel 4 has since taken the presenter off-air for a week, with the network stating it has a “strict code of conduct for all its employees, including its programming teams and on-air presenters, and takes any breaches seriously”.

As the presenter had already booked a week of leave, Guru-Murthy is set to return to Channel 4 after November 4.

Following a night of upheaval, including the resignation of numerous Tory MPs, Liz Truss resigned as prime minister on Thursday (October 20) after just six weeks in office.

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