An all-female rowing team who completed a record-breaking expedition across the Atlantic surprised BBC Breakfast viewers when they unveiled more of themselves than anticipated while appearing on the programme.
The video report on Monday morning, which showed footage of the Yorkshire Rows team at sea together, mistakenly included a shot of 45-year-old rower Helen Butters naked from the waist down.
Ms Butters, along with her teammates Janette Bennadi, Frances Davies and Niki Doeg, became the oldest all-female crew to cross an ocean, setting a Guinness World Record on 25 February.
The four Yorkshire women, all of whom are mothers of two and aged between 45 and 51, crossed La Gomera in the Canary Islands to English Harbour in Antigua in 67 days and five hours.
They were competing in the 3,000 mile Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge and their journey raised money to build a Maggie's Cancer Caring Centre in Leeds and for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.
The group explained that due to the hot weather they encountered on their journey, they often found it more comfortable to row in the nude, with one of the naked rowing sessions unexpectedly making it on to national TV.
Ironically, Ms Butter had been the most uncertain about stripping off in front of her team mates, saying she was “the last one to embrace my nakedness”.
Ms Butter added: “It was such an amazing experience, it was such a tough challenge and that’s [the nudity shown in the clip] probably the fun side."
Janette Bennadi, 51, said: “It was so wet all the time – to wear clothes all the time was a bit silly really because they’d just get wet and they’d take a long time to dry so it was easier to [be naked]”
Some viewers took to Twitter to show their amusement at the clip, while many more expressed admiration at the women’s achievement.
The BBC has now edited the report, to remove the revealing clip from future broadcasts.
A BBC spokesman said: “We quickly realised our error and edited the clip so it wasn't broadcast again later in the programme.
“We apologise to our guest and our viewers for the mistake.”
Additional reporting by Press Association
