A BBC newsreader made an unfortunate verbal blunder after stumbling over Jeremy Hunt’s name during a live broadcast.

Carrie Gracie appeared to drop the C-bomb as she delivered a bulletin on the UK Government’s response to Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's hunger strike on Monday’s News 24.

“The British government has repeatedly called for her release,” she said. “The Foreign Secretary Jeremy C*** has summoned the Iranian ambassador to discuss the issue.”

Unfortunately for Gracie, the slip-up was spotted by one eagle-eyed viewer who shared the clip on Twitter, deeming it the “best news blooper ever made”.

The post has amassed over 4,000 retweets and 13,000 likes, with users hailing it “glorious”.

Others joked they were convinced Gracie’s blooper was deliberate, with one commenting: “No mistake there...the pause was the courage breath needed.”

Another posted: “No blooper there that's a perfectly good description of him.”

A third tweeted: “Quite an emphatic kicking K!”

It is not the first time Mr Hunt’s name has been mispronounced during a live broadcast. The BBC's Justin Webb slipped up in 2018 while reading a news story about funding for social care on Radio 4.

“The paper says Health Secretary Jeremy C***,” he said before quickly correcting himself as he attempted to continue.

James Naughtie and Andrew Marr also committed the verbal blooper on the same day in 2010.