A local news anchor swallowed a fly on live television while presenting the news.
Yes, you heard that right. Vanessa Welch, an anchor for Boston 25 news—affiliated with the Fox network—went on with the broadcast despite a fly entering her mouth while she was speaking. The icky moment was captured by viewers and shared on social media.
The fly first appeared to land on her eye before Vanessa appeared to swallow and make a quick grimace before ultimately brushing it off and finishing her dialogue like a true reporter.
Viewers are commending her professionalism and insisting that she “needs a raise” following the incident, which you can watch below.
“That is professionalism right there,” wrote one Instagram user, while another commented: “Nah she needs a raise, she didn’t even bat an eye (Well she sorta did)”
Another user wrote: “I have NEVER seen that level of professionalism DAMN,” while another shared: “My natural instinct would have kicked in straight away and I’d have been a screaming wreck flipping tables and spitting that damn thing out my mouth.”
Some viewers are speculating that it was just a clump of a fake eyelash that Welch may have been wearing.
“Losing an eyelash is already embarrassing, but swallowing it on live TV? That’s next-level awkward!” commented one user, while two others wrote: “Tell me that was an eyelash, tell me that was an eyelash,” and “Guys. It was just a cluster lash that fell off.”
Believe it or not Welch isn’t the first news anchor to accidentally swallow a fly while on air. In 2014, British reporter Adam Boulton of Sky News also swallowed a fly.
While speaking about a reorganization of the Cabinet, a fly flew into Boulton’s mouth and he was forced to swallow.
One of his colleagues in the studio who didn’t quite know what happened asked Boulton if he wanted to “take a pause” to which he responded with “No, I swallowed a fly, that’s alright – I’ve recovered now.” He then continued reporting his story.
