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BBC News presenter Rich Preston left fans in stitches with his “outrageous flirting” with his co-host, Nick Beake.
Preston, who became an anchor on the news programme in 2020, was introducing a segment about Europe’s fifth heatwave.
He entertained viewers at home when he said BBC foreign correspondent Beake was “looking hot”.
The newsreader kicked off the segment by saying: “Let's speak to our Europe correspondent, Nick Beake, who is in Brussels for us.”
The camera then cut to Beake, as Preston remarked with a slight smile: “Er, Nick, you're looking hot this morning. How's the picture across Europe?”
Smiling back, Beake replied, “Good morning, Rich,” before diving into his bulletin on the soaring temperatures across the continent.
Rich Preston was teased for ‘flirting’ with his co-hostBBCThe brief playful moment didn’t go unnoticed by TV critic Scott Bryan, who shared the interaction in a now-viral video on Instagram on Thursday.
He joked in the text, “Outrageous flirting on BBC News,” and added in the caption: “Just DM them, ffs.”
Clearly amused by the exchange, Preston joked in the comments: “I couldn't resist.” The broadcaster also shared the video on his Instagram Story with a "breaking news" caption.
A slew of TV stars flooded the comments to share their amusement, with GMB presenter Andi Peters and GMB weather presenter Laura Tobin leaving laughing emojis.
Fans also expressed their mirth for the clip, with one joking, “Someone write a fan fiction,” and another adding: “Get a room, you two.”
Someone else noticed Preston’s smile after his comment about Beake “looking hot”, penning: “That little grin at the end.”
Another user quipped: “*sends to crush.”
He said Nick Beake (right) was ‘looking hot’BBCPreston began presenting on the BBC's television news channels in October 2019 after working extensively for the BBC World Service. He transitioned into a formal full-time news anchor in February 2020.
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Emmy award-winning Beake, meanwhile, became the BBC’s foreign correspondent in 2021 and has reported from more than 40 countries across five continents.
The cheeky moment comes after the BBC apologised to viewers struggling to “understand” a weather presenter.
Scottish presenter Judith Ralston, 58, is a regular on the channel in the north, but spent a week working nationally in London earlier this month.
Some viewers claimed Ralston was “virtually incomprehensible” during segments like the lunchtime news, while another complained she “has a hard accent to always understand”.
Scottish viewers defended the host, however, with one writing: “Her accent isn’t the problem, her microphone, however, seems to be an issue as it fades in and out.”
The BBC confirmed there had been a technical issue, which has since been fixed, which caused “the audio levels to be lower than intended”.
A spokesperson said: “We received complaints regarding the audio quality during weather forecasts presented by Judith Ralston. We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.”
The complaints come after reports that BBC Weather could be facing a huge shake-up as two of the channel's most recognisable faces are purportedly considering leaving the network amid major cutbacks.
As part of plans to cut up to 2,000 jobs and make £500 million in savings, the national broadcaster is reportedly planning to downsize the national weather team, taking the number of presenters from 11 to 4.5.
According to The Times, three of the BBC Weather team's biggest names – Tomasz Schafernaker, Louise Lear and Darren Bett – are "considering taking voluntary redundancy" amid plans to make the broadcaster's meteorological coverage more digital.