Things got entertaining in a very unexpected way at the Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, as an Australian sports reporter showed up drunk to cover the event and slurring her way through a disaster of a live interview. She then took to social media after the incident to plead for public sympathy and understanding.
For reference, the reporter involved was Australian Channel Nine reporter Danika Mason. She said, in commentary that followed the hilarious incident, that she had a bit to drink ahead of the event, which was a big mistake because she also missed dinner, and when paired with the cold and altitude that made her appear quite drunk.
The incident occurred on Wednesday, February 18, when Mason appeared on Channel Nine’s Today show and was obviously intoxicated. Doing so, she slurred her words and managed to go way off course with her comments, complaining about the cost of coffee in America in a bizarre digression from Olympics coverage.
Doing so in her hilarious drunken ramblings, the TV personality began by commenting on the price of coffee in Italy, saying, “Literally like the price of coffee over here is actually fine.” She then said, commenting on prices in America, “It’s more the price of coffee in the U.S. that we’re gonna have to get used to.”
Still not done, the drunken and slurring host went on to comment on the iguanas for which Florida has become famous, despite the fact that the 2028 Summer Olympics will be in California rather than Florida. She said, “I’m not sure about the iguanas, where are we going with that one?”
She didn’t end with the iguanas. Instead, she then tried to comment on the sports on which she was supposed to report, and ended up mixing up her words and conflating the US and UK. That, in turn, led to studio host Karl Stefanovic laughing in the background. Her co-host then tried to deflect by blaming the cold, saying, “Look the cold weather is a thing, right?” The co-host added, “You can’t actually move your lips.”
Watch her here:
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Appearing again on Thursday, February 19, for another live report, she appeared sober. After reporting on sports, Mason told viewers that she wanted to “take a moment, if that’s OK, just to apologise” for her previous, drunken appearance. She began by thanking those viewers who were concerned, saying, “I’m OK, probably just a little embarrassed.”
She added, blaming the cold, altitude, and missing dinner for her drunken rambling on air, “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.”
Most laughed the incident off, fortunately. For example, the Australian Prime Minister was asked to comment on it and said, “I’m pro Danika! Good on her! She’s over in Italy… and she would have been tired. It’s the time difference, would have been having an impact!” He later added, jokingly, “Nothing to see here!”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedde video