Tracy Brabin has said she will have to change her phone number after she was bombarded with calls as it was inadvertently shown on screen during an appearance on ITV’s This Morning.
The Labour MP for Batley and Spen and former Coronation Street actress appeared on the daytime show to discuss funding being made available for MPs to cover the costs of closing their constituency offices.
As she appeared via FaceTime, her phone number appeared across the top of the screen.
📞 📞 Just done @thismorning and my phone number was posted on screen and I’ve been inundated so will have to change my number. Please TEXT.
— Tracy Brabin MP 🌹 (@TracyBrabin) April 10, 2020
Brabin wrote on Twitter: “Just done @thismorning and my phone number was posted on screen and I’ve been inundated so will have to change my number. Please TEXT.”
The signal for the interview was interrupted as calls came in to her mobile and she said: “I’m so sorry, I’m getting calls at the moment. That is why it’s dropping. Oh, there’s another one.”
One viewer wrote on Twitter: “her signal isn’t bad, instead, her number was leaked live on TV and everyone is trying to call her.”
.@thismorning @TracyBrabin her signal isn’t bad, instead, her number was leaked live on TV and everyone is trying to call her 😂 #thismorning
— Dan Judge (@danjudgemusic) April 10, 2020
Another wrote: “You can’t stop receiving calls during your facetime to This Morning because your phone number was broadcast so people rang it.”
Another wrote: “Oops! It appears that @thismorning have just revealed Tracy Brabin’s telephone number on air during a FaceTime interview. She will not be happy.”
Oops! It appears that @thismorning have just revealed Tracy Brabin’s telephone number on air during a FaceTime interview. She will not be happy #ThisMorning pic.twitter.com/xD5PoBLMBR
— Brian Purvis (@Brisycom) April 10, 2020
Another said: “Time for MP @TracyBrabin to change her mobile number thanks to @thismorning @ITV @itvnews leaving her number at the top of the screen while talking to her.”
Brabin, the former shadow culture secretary, appeared on the show as it emerged hundreds of politicians are entitled to a £10,000 one-off cash grant from their local authority to cover the costs of closing constituency offices.
The money is available – in some cases automatically – despite each MP already receiving a separate £10,000 payment from parliamentary authorities to set up remote working for their staff.
Presenter Eamonn Holmes apologised for the blunder on the show, telling viewers: “There is something I want to refer to, a quick word about an item in the programme at the start of the programme today.
“It was an interview with the Labour MP Tracy Brabin, and some of you will have noticed a technical error during that transmission and we want to say sincere regret and we are very sorry to Tracy for any stress or trouble that that may have caused.”
A spokeswoman for This Morning said: “It was a technical error which was swiftly rectified.”