A senior UK TV presenter has apologised for “flipping the bird” at the camera in a shot that went to air and quickly turned viral online.

BBC presenter Maryam Moshiri apologised to viewers overnight, describing the slip-up as a “silly joke that was meant for a small number of my mates”.

“It was a private joke with the team and I’m so sorry it went out on air!” she said, on X.

BBC presenter Maryam Moshiri apologised to viewers overnight, describing the slip-up as a “silly joke that was meant for a small number of my mates”. (Supplied)

“It was not my intention for this to happen and I’m sorry if I offended or upset anyone.”

The clip, from a Wednesday bulletin, shows the famous BBC countdown and theme music before cutting to Moshiri, who is pulling a face while turning her middle finger to the camera before quickly composing a serious face.

She said she wasn’t “‘flipping the bird’ at viewers or even a person really”.

“I was pretending to count down as the director was counting me down from 10-0.. including the fingers to show the number. So from 10 fingers held up to one,” Moshiri said.

“When we got to 1 I turned [my] finger around as a joke and did not realise that this would be caught on camera.” 

She joins a long history of relatively inconsequential TV gaffes that make headlines.

The response on social media was predominantly lighthearted, with many people choosing to point out the humour or make memes rather than take offence.

In poor timing for the BBC, the stuff-up came the day before the government increased the TV licence fee by £10.50 to £169.50, after a two-year freeze, and announced a review into the broadcaster’s funding model.

The fee, which funds the broadcaster is paid by all households who watch live TV. The increase, calculated based off September’s inflation figure rather than averaged over the whole year, was lower than the BBC had expected.

Senior BBC presenter Maryam Moshiri said she wasn’t “‘flipping the bird’ at viewers or even a person really”. (BBC)

In a statement, the BBC pointed out the rise came after two years without an increase, during a period of high inflation.

“The BBC is focused on providing great value, as well as programmes and services that audiences love. However, this outcome will still require further changes on top of the major savings that we are already delivering,” the board said.

“Our content budgets are now impacted, which in turn will have a significant impact on the wider creative sector across the UK. We will confirm the consequences of this as we work through our budgets in the coming months.”

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