A TV host joked that he was drunk – but a technical issue was behind a bizarre, live interview during the halftime break of a Super Rugby match.
Confusion reigned after the Crusaders-Stormers halftime interview involving Sky Sport’s Andrew Mulligan.
Mulligan appeared to be slurring some words as he spoke to Stormers pivot Robert du Preez, asking him how the Stormers might stop the Crusaders’ juggernaut.
He had difficulty pronouncing ‘juggernaut’ and described the Crusaders’ effort as an absolute ‘mascular’ when he meant ‘massacre’.
Mulligan suggested technical issues caused the problem, tweeting: “Had my voice repeating like reflux back to me in my earpiece.”
He later tweeted, apparently joking: “I was really drunk for the interview”.
He also tweeted he was “Drunk AF”.
Others wondered if he had suffered a minor stroke.
@SkySportsJimmyG @GregAFC @sumostevenson @TrainMuch @LynaghMichael @SFitzpatrick92 I was really drunk for the interview!
— Andrew Mulligan (@Andrew_Mulligan) April 22, 2017
@jimtarvan Drunk AF
— Andrew Mulligan (@Andrew_Mulligan) April 22, 2017
Continued below.
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Video
Watch: Andrew Mulligan’s bizarre interview
Fellow commentator Scotty Stevenson added : “I don’t think he has had a stroke. Think he was frozen by the windchill.”
SKY spokesperson Kirsty Way rejected the suggestion Mulligan was drunk.
“We had a work around cable mic for Andrew at halftime,” Way told NZME.
“He was dealing with a lot of echo and as a result his speech was unclear. He was not drunk.”
Way said Mulligan tweeted a “joke” about being drunk “in response to other texts”.
“We have no further comment.”
Mulligan is best known as a main host of the Crowd Goes Wild, the offbeat Sky sports magazine programme.
