AN audio clip of a BBC Northern Ireland broadcaster being duped into reading out a joke about Jimmy Savile on air has gone viral.

Good Morning Ulster presenter Karen Patterson apologised during Friday’s show after falling victim to a prank text.

During a discussion about the late children’s television presenter — now at the centre of rape and sex abuse allegations — Ms Patterson read out a text billed as “an alternative view on the Jimmy Savile story”.

It said: “I wish everyone would stop criticising Jimmy Savile. He was a nice man. When I was eight he fixed it for me to milk a cow blind-folded.”

After the embarrassing blunder was brought to the BBC’s attention, the presenter immediately apologised.

She said: “I am very sorry if I have caused any offence, but apologies, it was a genuine mistake.”

A YouTube clip of the astonishing radio gaffe has now been heard more than 250,000 times. And, on Twitter, award winning comedian Ricky Gervais brought the clip to the attention of his 3.3 million followers, urging them to listen to it.

“I promise this is the funniest thing you will hear today,” he told them.

“The apology is even funnier than the blunder.”

Given the details that have emerged over the last few weeks of the horrific abuse children and young adults were subjected to by Savile, Gervais then pondered why anyone would relay a message in support of the disgraced former BBC presenter.

Gervais’ Twitter comments on the micro-blogging site have since been reposted by others around 3,500 times.

Belfast Telegraph