Ben Shephard had Tipping Point viewers in stitches after a seemingly innocent sports question prompted the ITV presenter to make a cheeky remark that some fans felt sounded far more suggestive than intended.
The awkwardly funny moment came during the Monday, July 24 edition of the long-running ITV game show, when contestant Dan reached the jackpot round and was faced with a question about an unusual sporting term.
‘Backdoor slider’ catches viewers off guard
As Dan prepared to answer questions in the final stage of the game, Ben asked: “In which popular American sport would you be most likely to hear the term ‘backdoor slider’?”
A correct answer meant Dan could earn additional tokens to use in the giant coin-pusher machine, where contestants attempt to push coins over the edge and into the prize slots.
But while the game itself was serious, Ben’s commentary quickly became the source of amusement.
As the tokens dropped through the machine, some landed in unexpected places rather than where Dan had hoped.
When one failed to land as planned, Ben seized on the wording of the earlier question and joked: “Bit like a backdoor slider that one!”
The remark immediately caught the attention of viewers watching at home.
Fans react to Ben’s ‘naughty’ joke
Although “backdoor slider” is a legitimate term associated with baseball, some Tipping Point viewers could not resist interpreting Ben’s repeated use of the phrase as a cheeky innuendo.
Social media quickly filled with amused reactions.
One viewer questioned whether Ben really should be discussing “backdoor sliders” on daytime television, while another responded with a GIF captioned: “That’s too much.”
Another fan joked about Ben saying the phrase again, adding a laughing emoji alongside the Tipping Point hashtag.
Other viewers simply repeated “Back door slider??!!!” or “BACKDOOR SLIDER!!” as they reacted to the unexpected wording.
One fan even posted a GIF of wrestler John Cena appearing excited, while others turned to images of actor Kenneth Williams from Carry On Camping and his famous 1974 interview with Russell Harty to capture the suggestive nature of the moment.
The reaction suggested that plenty of viewers had noticed the same double meaning—even though the phrase itself was used in the context of a genuine sports question.
Ben Shephard’s long-running role on the show
Ben, who was 48 at the time of the episode, has been the face of Tipping Point since taking over as host in 2012.
The show sees contestants answer general-knowledge questions before putting their winnings into the distinctive giant coin-pusher machine.
The outcome can often depend on luck, with coins sometimes falling exactly where contestants want them and other times taking an unexpected path.
On this occasion, however, it was Ben’s commentary rather than the machine that became the main talking point among viewers.
What began as an ordinary question about baseball ended with fans joking about a phrase they certainly did not expect to hear repeated quite so enthusiastically on daytime television.