An ABC news anchor has found herself in an awkward situation after making a risqué comment live on air.
Weekend Breakfast co-host Fauziah Ibrahim baffled viewers on Sunday morning during a segment on the Ig Nobel prize.
The discussion about the satirical awards, run by “scientific humour magazine” the Annals of Improbable Research”, left viewers stunned and the program’s guest lost for words when Ibrahim weighed in with an awkward comment about one of the winners.
Alongside co-host Johanna Nicholson, the trio discussed this year’s standouts of the satirical event, which celebrates 10 unusual or trivial achievements in scientific research. This year’s recipients included a team of Japanese researchers led by Professor Gen Matsuzaki, who won the engineering award for investigating the optimal way to turn a door knob.
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After observing video footage of 32 volunteers turning 47 various sized door knobs, the research team came to the conclusion that the bigger the knob, the more fingers required to turn it.
“(They also found that) there’s a limit to the size and shape of the door knob,” the show’s guest added when explaining the research to the co-hosts.
In resp, Ibrahim weighed in with a comment some viewers interpreted as a little suggestive.
“Well in personal experience, sometimes you need two hands to deal with a big knob,” she appeared to joke.
The show’s guest was appeared to be caught off guard, stuttering “uh” and “yes’” before saving the segment by elaborating on how the research will help society.
“I think (it’s) something that’s important in terms of looking at the way we interact with the world and of course it’s important for people who particularly have disabilities or older people who might need a little bit of help with the design,” she said.
Ibrahim’s attempt to include some suggestive banter into the segment didn’t go unnoticed, with many viewers taking to social media to question whether they heard her comment correctly.
“I thought I’d imagined that. ‘From personal experience’ she said … outstanding,” one Sydney viewer tweeted.
“I had it playing in the background and couldn’t believe it @ABC – brilliant!” reacted a second viewer.
“Fauziah Ibrahim on #ABC News Channel, on (a) segment on Ig Nobel prize for research on door knob sizes, tries to be funny … Nothing but class,” commented a third.
But others were far from impressed, failing to see the funny side of the presenter’s joke.
“I swear like a navy but that was not the time nor the place,” tweeted one viewer.
Meanwhile a Reddit user posted: “Had to do a double take. Awkward viewing.”
A second Reddit user wished the network had cut to the newsdesk at the time of comment, rather than continuing play to vision of an interview with the researchers.
“Well I think it's funny, especially with the awkward reactions from the others. Would be funnier if we had the feed from the desk at the time though,” the said.
It’s not the first time Ibrahim has found herself caught up in public debate.
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Earlier this year, the news presenter came under fire after it was discovered that she had two controversial lists on her personal Twitter account labelling critics “Labor Trolls/Thugs” and “Lobotomised sh**heads”.
She has since taken down her Twitter account.
News.com.au has contacted ABC News Breakfast for comment.
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