TVM Host Clarifies ‘Genuine’ Make-Up Mistake After On-Air Lapse Subjects Him To Mockery
TVMNews+ host Brian Hansford has clarified that a slip-up during a recent medical discussion show, where he misunderstood a doctor’s reference to chromosomal make-up, was a genuine mistake.
“The program was about leukaemia, and when I was researching it beforehand, I found out that the FDA [the US Food and Drug Administration] was investigating a potential link between parabens – preservatives used in cosmetics – and breast cancer,” Hansford told Lovin Malta.
“I was going to use it as a question in the programme anyway – there’s a lot of controversy about make-up internationally and I thought it was interesting seeing as cosmetics are so popular in Malta.”
At one point during the Dijanjosi programme, the guest – clinical haematologist David James Camilleri – referred to chromosomal make-up and Hansford’s mind instantly went to his research on cosmetic make-up.
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“I admit it was a mistake from my end,” he said. “I was so into asking that question about cosmetic make-up that when he mentioned ‘chromosomal make-up’, I automatically heard the word’ make-up’ and thought it was time to ask the question.”
“I didn’t even hear the word ‘chromosomal’. It was a genuine mistake.”
Online reports about Hansford’s brief lapse in concentration led to loads of mocking and sneering comments, with some people assuming the TVM host didn’t understand the difference between cosmetic and chromosomal make-up.
“It was a genuine mistake, which happens to many journalists. I don’t understand why there have been so many attacks on me, especially since the topic wasn’t even about politics.”
While some people criticised TVMNews+ for allowing a layman to present a medical discussion show, Hansford explained that that is the whole point of Djanjosi.
Hansford, a veteran broadcaster, presents questions to medical experts in a way regular people might ask them, Meanwhile, his co-host Chris Barbara, a virologist who spearheaded Malta’s fight against COVID-19, assists him from a medical point of view.
Hansford explained that he was also under significant personal stress at the time of the programme. He was undergoing MRI treatment for a longstanding shoulder injury and he feared it could have been cancerous.
“I never felt as scared as while I was waiting for the results,” he said. “However, I presented the programme about cancer anyway without bringing up my fears so as to pass on information to the public.”
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