Billy Crudup flew from the US to talk about his West End debut in thriller Harry Clarke. But after swearing on live TV, the actor left Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary mortified.

Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary were reminded of the hazards of live telly as Billy Crudup swore on the set of This Morning.

On Friday (April 5, 2024), the Tony and Emmy Award-winning actor spoke to the ITV hosts about his newest role in David Cale’s thriller Harry Clarke. Billy has taken on the project on the West End and made his debut in the play in March, 2024.

As he discussed the play, which is scheduled at the Ambassadors Theatre until mid-May, 2024, the American star recalled a moment in his career during which his agents were exceptionally disappointed with him when he decided to play in The Elephant Man on Broadway. But in sharing the anecdote, Billy let a swear word slip.

Billy Crudup was on the set of This Morning but the American actor dropped a swear word as he spoke about his new role .

“Weren’t your agents p*****?”, he quoted, unaware of his mistake due to the subtle barrier between both American English and British English. Billy doubled down on the word, leaving This Morning host cringing in her seat while Dermot O’Leary looked just as shaken.

The presenter gently reprimanded him soon after by informing him: “We don’t say that word in England – so apologies for Billy’s colourful language.”

But when the 55-year-old turned to her with a puzzled look, she had to explain her reaction. “I know you can say it in America”, she continued, to which Billy added, visibly embarrassed, leaving Alison and Dermot in a fit of laughter: “Oh! Really? Is that when you’re drunk? What I meant to say was ‘irritated!’ It’s because of my accent.”

Alison and Dermot’s experience with blunders and guests swearing on live TV is extensive. In fact, on Tuesday (April 2, 2024), the former apologised for yet another guest who got carried away and said “p*** off.”

The incident occurred when American guest Andrew, who joined the breakfast staple via video, spoke about some of Beyonce’s tracks being left out on vinyl. The guest discussed reactions from the singer’s fans, also known as the “beehive”, as he said: “Alright guys, the beehive is buzzing and they’re buzzing big time! They got their vinyl and not all the tracks were on their vinyl, so they’re a little bit p***ed off about that.”

Andrew then admitted he had done some digging of his own and informed viewers that artists making vinyl albums need to book out printing presses months in advance. Due to her album not being finished on time, Beyonce had to make some sacrifices – but Alison couldn’t look past the blunder.

Once again, Alison quickly reacted to Andrew’s slip-up: “we can’t miss an apology for Andrew’s very colourful language, so we do apologise for that.” She had then added with a hint of humour: “it’s morning television, passions are high and obviously Beyonce is missing vinyl tracks, what is going on? Not happy about it.”