Dermot O'Leary joked he had lost it with This Morning producers over a tongue-in-cheek “toxic” gaffe.
During Friday’s edition of the ITV daytime show, the 50-year-old stunned viewers as he seemingly poked fun at allegations of a toxic work environment on This Morning.
Dermot began dancing along to Britney Spears’ hit 2003 track Toxic, alongside co-host Alison Hammond, but refused to say the song’s title.
Waving his hand and mimicking a “cut” sign, Dermot cheekily quipped: “Don't mention the T word!”
“What were you thinking of up there?” he joked, looking up at the show’s bosses in the gallery, as Alison cackled with laughter.
“Don't do it again,” she teased.
“It's one of those days today,” Dermot replied.
The unscripted moment was noticed by viewers, who were surprised the “toxic” allegations were mentioned during the show.
“They just played a snippet of Britney Spears - Toxic on This Morning and Dermot yelled ‘Don't mention the T word!’. He's so funny,” one tweeted.
“Dermot joking you can't mention the word toxic,” another added, while others suggested Dermot had mentioned the This Morning dressing rooms during the segment.
“Did Dermot just mention the This Morning dressing rooms?!” one wrote, as a fellow viewer replied: “He did! He said ‘who knows what goes on in those dressing rooms’.”
Accusations of a toxic workplace environment on This Morning emerged following the departure of Phillip Schofield in May, as news of his secret relationship with a young employee was made public in a bombshell statement.
Dr Ranj Singh, who was the show’s former resident doctor, said This Morning had a “toxic culture” and raised concerns regarding bullying and discrimination more than two years ago.
“I even took my concerns directly to the top of ITV: the culture at This Morning had become toxic, no longer aligned with ITV values, and I felt like because I whistle-blew I was managed out,” he said.
This Morning editor Martin Frizell denied the allegations, and said “scores were being settled” when quizzed over the claims.
