Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Wales Online
Wales Online
Lifestyle
Kathryn Williams

Joel Dommett claimed a Welsh sporting tradition 'sounds Irish' on the One Show

Gasps around (some of) Wales were heard tonight (June 21) as The One Show talked about the yearly, mid Wales tradition of bog snorkelling, and host Angela Scanlon and guest Joel Dommett tried to pass it off as an Irish pastime.

Comedian Dommett was on the show with his wife Hannah Cooper and were chatting about their new podcast Never Have I Ever, because that's what everyone famous does now, which will see the pair try out new things. Viewers suggestions included the yearly tradition of bog snorkelling, which was started in Llanwrtyd Wells back in 1976.

Competitors race to complete two consecutive lengths of a 60-yard (55 m) water-filled trench cut through a peat bog in the shortest time possible, wearing traditional snorkel, diving mask and flippers. It's gross and fun and definitely Welsh.

Read more: See amazing photos from the world bog snorkelling 30th anniversary competition

But Joel, Angela and the rest of the team hadn't heard of it. Angela read out viewer comments to Joel and Hannah. "Bog snorkelling, would you give that a lash?"

Challenge extended...Joel and Hannah on The One Show (BBC)

A puzzled-sounding Joel repeated: "Bog. Snorkelling? Is that snorkelling in a toilet because people did that to me at school and it wasn't fun." And Angela replied: "Do NOT make me explain this. They wouldn't do it to you now. You basically put a snorkel on and you go into kind of a dirty river. It's quite competitive thing."

Joel mused that it 'sounded very Irish' and Angela agreed. We bet Alex Jones would have set them straight.

Both are wrong - but the World Bog Snorkelling Championship world record has been claimed a few times by Irish competitors as people have travelled from all over the world to compete in the August Bank Holiday event.

This year's competition is on Sunday, August 28 and we expect to see Joel and Hannah take part for their podcast.

Read next:

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.