MILAN, Italy — Channel Nine’s Danika Mason issued a public apology after her live cross from the Winter Olympics drew widespread attention for garbled speech and unusual tangents. During Wednesday’s appearance on the Today show, Mason struggled through her update, veering into remarks about iguanas and comparing coffee costs in Italy and the U.S. She later lay down on camera to make snow angels.

Karl Stefanovic, hosting Today, quipped right after that the cold air might be to blame. Mason addressed the mishap the next morning in another cross. “I shouldn’t have had a drink, and especially in these conditions,” she said. “It’s cold, we’ve got altitude, and not having had dinner probably didn’t help. I want to take full responsibility. It’s not the standard I set for myself. I’m really sorry.”

The NRL coverage regular urged viewers to refocus on the Olympics’ final days. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese backed her during a Thursday Nova Melbourne interview. “Good on her, she’s over in Italy and she would have been tired,” he said. “It’s the time difference. Nothing to see here.”

Mason’s slip joins a long line of live TV gaffes from Australian broadcasters that have captured public attention. In 2010, Sarah Murdoch announced the wrong winner on the live finale of Australia’s Next Top Model. Finalist Kelsey Martinovich celebrated briefly before Murdoch corrected herself. “Oh my God, I don’t know what to say right now,” Murdoch said, earpiece in hand as cheers rang out. “I’m feeling a bit sick. No. I’m so sorry. It’s Amanda. It was fed to me wrong.”

Karl Stefanovic tried humor on the Dalai Lama in a 2011 Today interview. He launched into a joke: “The Dalai Lama walks into a pizza shop and says, ‘Can you make me one with everything?'”

Andrew Rochford flubbed a guest intro on The Project in 2013, calling comedian Kitty Flanagan “Clitty Flanagan.” “K-Kitty, should I be worried about my job?” he asked. Flanagan shot back: “Well, if you keep calling me Clitty, you should, yeah.”

Veteran SBS newsreader Lee Lin Chin had an off-air comment catch the camera in 2010. Caught mid-sentence about British reporter Dan Rivers, she said, “Who is that handsome…” before pivoting smoothly to the next story.

Belinda Russell misspoke on Today in 2020, telling viewers to visit “Lego dot com”—but swapping the ‘o’ for a ‘u.’ Co-host David Campbell burst into laughter, amplifying the clip’s charm.

During a 2011 Ten News segment on cricketer Andrew Strauss and the tiny Ashes urn, Mark Aiston marveled, “I just can’t understand how something so small can be so impressive.” Belinda Heggen replied instantly: “Well, Mark, you would know about that,” then segued to weather.

ABC’s Natasha Exelby went viral in 2017 after zoning out pre-cue, her face contorting in horror. She was pulled from air, but ABC News Director Gaven Morris clarified she wasn’t fired. “Live television is a demanding art and slip-ups will happen—our presenters are humans, not robots,” he said.

Ex-rugby star Mal Meninga bailed on his 2011 ABC Canberra radio debut as a politician. After fumbling his reason for running—citing community work—he quit mid-interview. “I’m buggered, I’m sorry, I can’t do it,” he said, then left the studio.

More recently, ABC News Breakfast’s Tony Armstrong mangled a 2021 report on cricketer Tim Paine’s bulging neck disc. Co-host Michael Rowland prodded: “Bulging what?” as they cut to weather.

These incidents highlight the high-wire act of live broadcasting, where fatigue, nerves or split-second errors can turn pros into viral stars.