Ben Shephard has explained why he struggled to hold back his laughter during an awkward moment on Tipping Point after a contestant appeared to give a bizarre answer to a very simple question.
The incident happened during Thursday’s edition of the ITV quiz show, when contestant Paul reached the quickfire round.
Things took an unexpectedly funny turn when Shephard asked him what the “P” in “SPF” stands for.
Paul didn’t know the answer and simply said, “Pass,” moving on to the next question.
But Shephard appeared to misunderstand what had happened.
Ben Shephard defended himself after he giggled at a Tipping Point contestant’s answerCredit: ITV
Ben thought “Pass” was Paul’s answer
As the quickfire round continued, Shephard could barely contain his laughter.
When the questions were over, the presenter explained to Paul why he had reacted the way he did.
“I only laughed because you said pass,” Shephard told him.
The confusion became clear when Shephard appeared to interpret “pass” as Paul’s actual answer rather than an instruction to skip the question.
He then jokingly corrected him: “No, it’s not pass. Protection.”
Paul saw the funny side of the misunderstanding and laughed as Shephard explained himself.
Viewers were confused too
The moment quickly caught the attention of viewers, with some taking to Twitter to comment on the exchange.
One viewer joked that Paul might have been better off giving a much less family-friendly response than simply saying “pass.”
Others appeared to make the same mistake Shephard had made, joking that “pass” must have been Paul’s answer.
One viewer wrote: “SPF stands for Sun PASS Factor, Paul?!”
Another simply pointed out: “No, the p doesn’t stand for pass.”
A third viewer mocked the apparent mix-up, writing: “Protection not pass you numpty!”
The exchange ultimately ended with Paul laughing after Shephard clarified what had happened.
Paul laughed when Ben explained why he had reacted that way when the round was over
It wasn’t the first time viewers questioned the questions
The awkward moment came shortly after Tipping Point viewers had criticized the programme over what they considered unusually easy questions.
In another episode, contestant Richard successfully answered five questions before running out of time.
However, viewers were particularly amused by one question concerning the English alphabet.
Shephard asked Richard: “What is the penultimate letter of the English alphabet?”
Richard correctly answered “Y”, but the simplicity of the question prompted some viewers to complain that contestants were being given questions that were far too easy.
The comments added to an ongoing debate among fans about the difficulty level of questions on the popular ITV quiz show.
Tipping Point airs weekdays at 4pm on ITV.