Sven-Göran Eriksson interview repeatedly interrupted by Lembit Öpik calling him

Virgin Radio

8 Jun 2021, 10:52

We all love it when Zoom interviews on television news programmes get gatecrashed, don’t we? Usually it’s done by the interviewee’s kids, who are blissfully oblivious to the fact that their parent is in the middle of broadcasting to the nation. Today though, Sven-Göran Eriksson experienced a very different kind of disruption when being interviewed by Kay Burley on Sky News.

The former England manager was speaking live from Sweden, making some very interesting points about language and talking about being boss of the Three Lions, when he was interrupted. However, the interview wasn’t derailed by one of his kids but, absolutely bizarrely, by former Liberal Democrat MP, Lembit Öpik. 

Despite Sven rejecting his call, Lembit simply would not take no for an answer, and repeatedly retried. After five failed calls from Lembit in two minutes, Sven’s interview comes to an end with Kay Burley saying, “It does look like Mr Öpik really does want to talk to you!” 

What the British former politician wanted with the suave Swede is anyone’s guess. Are they old buddies? Did he want to chat football ahead of this week’s Euros? Were they going to reminisce about the noughties? Who knows? Twitter though, was immediately awash with people commenting on the weirdness of it all.

One commenter said, “This is absolutely amazing.” 

Another suggested there was, “Something very Alan Partridge about Sven Goran Ericsson going on #SkyNews and repeatedly receiving calls from Lembit Opik during his interview.”

One Twitter user added, “He is a cheeky boy” in reference to Öpik’s former relationship with Gabriela Irimia from The Cheeky Girls.

Sven’s Sky News chat is the latest to highlight the pitfalls of remote interviews. It all, of course, started with political analyst Robert E Kelly’s daughter bowling in to his office at the start of the first lockdown, and other highlights have included the son of Sky News foreign affairs editor, Deborah Haynes, bargaining for two biscuits. 

Instances like these might be a nightmare for the interviewer, but they sure make for fun viewing, don't they?