COUGH or not?

An Australian Sky News presenter has been forced to defend himself after apparently being caught on camera mimicking oral sex during a live cross.



James Bracey, a NSW Australia Day ambassador, today tried to downplay the incident and claimed he was just coughing uncontrollably.



The footage shows Bracey, 27, making the gesture during the Sportsline show when the channel crossed to sports journalist Jim Wilson.



Wilson was talking about his preferred State of Origin side when the broadcast cut from a graphic of the team back to the main desk.



Bracey was gesturing with his hand near his mouth when he spotted himself on a monitor.



A colleague at the desk also noticed him and looked across before they both tried to continue on as normal.



As the incident began to be discussed on Twitter, Bracey tweeted: “Caught LIVE on air today coughing my guts up. Looked like I was making a rude gesture about my mate Jim Wilson. Priceless #notmyproudestmoment.”



News Limited reporter Jim Wilson confirmed Bracey had been coughing immediately prior and during the cross.



In a statement this afternoon, Sky News director of news and programs Ian Ferguson said the station wanted to "correct misinformation" that began circulating after the incident.

Sports editor Paul Gregg, who was producing the show at the time, said Bracey had been coughing throughout the program.

"One of these fits was inadvertently put to air," Gregg said.

"At the time James was also trying to signal studio crew to keep his microphone off line. This has been misconstrued by some people."

Sportsline guest Jimmy Smith, who was sitting next to Bracey during the show, said: "James was coughing at the time he was on camera. To suggest anything else is completely wrong."

Originally published as Lewd gesture or just a cough?