Adam Boulton swallows a fly live on air, carries on regardless

‘I swallowed a fly, I’ve recovered now’ he tells Sky News while covering the cabinet reshuffle live

Adam Boulton swallowed a fly live on Sky News, but soldiered on after swallowing it. (Sky News )

“...And certainly if we look at the changing complexion of this Cabinet compared to...” Sky’s political editor said, before his face began to contort and he stopped talking momentarily.

“Adam, Adam, do you want to take a pause?” a voice breaks in from the studio, as Mr Boulton visibly swallows something while still on camera. “I know you’ve been talking non-stop, are you OK?” the voice from the studio asks.

Mr Boulton, who was stood outside Number 10 reporting on the today’s cabinet reshuffle, simply replied: “No, I swallowed a fly, that’s alright – I’ve recovered now,” before carrying on with his report focusing on the women being selected by the Prime Minster for the Cabinet.

It is not the first time Mr Boulton has given an entertaining on-air performance, however.

His unforgettable interview with Alastair Campbell after the 2010 general election left the Sky News presenter jabbing in the air while crying out “I’m fed up with you telling me what I think!” Fellow presenter Jeremy Thompson tried to step in, telling Mr Campbell he was being “provocative,” but it did little to break up the fracas.

Another particularly memorable moment was when Mr Boulton riled former Prime Minister Gordon Brown so much that the Labour leader got up and walked away. Mr Brown spent the interview trying to deflect questions about whether he would take part in a debate with the other party leaders or not before the election, and complained that Sky continued to focus on his personality rather than his policies.

Mr Brown simply stared back at Sky News’ political editor when he said thank you at the end of the interview, stood up while the camera was still rolling, and stormed off.

In January Mr Boulton revealed he will be stepping down from his role after 25 years, to present a new Sky News evening show, later this year. Channel 4 News’ economics editor Faisal Islam will replace Mr Boulton later this year.