Angela Scanlon had to apologise during the broadcast of Eurovision Song Contest 2026 following an instance of swearing, with the presenter joking with Rylan Clark that they had gotten a “little over-excited”.
The annual event, which is now in its 70th edition, is taking place in the Austrian capital of Vienna, with two semi-finals taking place this week before the showpiece on Saturday (16 May).
Tonight saw the first semi-final take place, with 15 countries competing for one of the spots reserved for the final. Across the two semi-finals, 20 spaces are up for grabs, with another five for the automatic qualifiers.
BBC
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The penultimate performance of the evening featured Alicja, Poland’s representative, singing ‘Pray’. In one part of the song, the singer raps: “Pretty girls rock/ I’ve been on my shit, now it’s pretty on top.”
Even though the song aired after the 9pm watershed, Scanlon, who commented over the broadcast alongside Clark as part of the BBC’s coverage, apologised to viewers for the instance of “bad language”.
“It’s live TV, isn’t it?” she added, with Clark quipping: “What did I say this time?” In response, Scanlon joked: “Not you this time. Some participants, well, they get a little over-excited. Let it rip.”
Scanlon, who has appeared on The One Show and Strictly Come Dancing, made her debut for the BBC’s Eurovision coverage and was praised by viewers for her partnership with Clark.
“Angela Scanlon is actually perfect in this commentating role. She can stay every year as far as I’m concerned,” noted one fan on X, while another wrote: “I didn’t realise how much we needed Angela Scanlon.”
BBC
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A third viewer echoed this sentiment as they lauded the bubbly partnership between Scanlon and Clark, writing: “Have to say loving Angela Scanlon and Rylan Clark. The chemistry is right.”
As one of the ‘Big Four’ nations alongside Germany, France and Italy, the UK has automatic passage to Saturday’s final. This year, the country is being represented by Look Mum No Computer, who is singing ‘Eins, Zwei, Drei’.
Eurovision Song Contest airs on BBC One and streams on BBC iPlayer.
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Reporter, Digital Spy George is a freelance writer who specialises in Movies and TV. After graduating with a degree in Film Studies and Journalism from De Montfort University, in which he analysed the early works of Richard Linklater for his dissertation, he wrote for several websites for GRV Media. His film tastes vary from blockbusters like Mission: Impossible and John Wick to international directors such as Paolo Sorrentino and Hirokazu Kore-eda, and has attended both the London and Berlin film festivals.