The star of the BBC’s iconic TV gaffe has told GB News he was “so lost” after being wrongly interviewed on live television.
Speaking to The People’s Channel 20 years on from the iconic BBC mix-up, Guy Goma recalled how the day unfolded after arriving at the broadcaster’s building for a job interview.
Mr Goma told GB News: “When I reached the BBC, I didn’t know it was a studio. I didn’t know and then they tried to put makeup on me, and I said, ‘no, I don’t need that’.
“And they just said to me, ‘go and sit down there’. And where I was sitting, there was only two stools there. I sat on one of the stools and I was waiting.”
Mr Goma recalled his shock as he looked up at the screens in the studio and realised he was on live television.
He said: “The journalist came, she sat and she started talking and said ‘This is Guy Kewney’.
“The screen came on and I looked up and saw my face, and I said, ‘God, I’m lost!’.”
Joining Mr Goma on GB News, ex-BBC producer Elliot Gotkine spoke about greeting the viral star and leading him into the studio, where the now unforgettable mix-up was created.
Guy Goma has spoken to GB News as he marks the 20th anniversary of his viral BBC TV gaffe
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Mr Gotkine explained what happened from his perspective, and how Mr Kewney had been waiting at a different BBC reception to Mr Goma, but was told he was the right Guy.
He said: “I was producing the business news output on what was then known as News 24, now known as the News Channel, and with 10 minutes to go to our slot, there was no sign of our guest.
“And so when I called down to main reception – there were two receptions at the BBC, so I could have called down to either one. If they’d just said, ‘No, he’s not here’, I’d have called to the other reception, but they didn’t. They said, ‘Yes, he’s here’.”
The ex-producer continued: “I run downstairs through the corridors, went to the lobby, looking around, I didn’t see anyone resembling this technology expert, Guy Kewney. I turned to the receptionist and I said, ‘Which one is Guy?’ and she’s pointing to the man we now know as Guy Goma.
Guy Goma arrived at BBC’s headquarters for a job interview in 2006 but found himself being interviewed about internet music downloads | BBC
“And I’m like, are you sure, and she’s like, ‘Yes.’ I thought I’d must have seen the wrong image online when I looked up Guy Kewney and I was just wrong. Here’s a smartly dressed man ready to be interviewed in some shape or form; come with me.
“I hand him over to the floor manager in the studio, I go into the news gallery, and it’s mission accomplished as far as I’m concerned.”
Mr Gotkine then revealed that the penny finally dropped when a colleague told him that Mr Kewney was waiting for him in the other reception and had been the entire time.
He told GB News: “After I showed Guy Goma out of the building, I went back to my desk, and I actually even sent an email to my entire department chastising them for the quality of the guest that they brought on.
Mr Goma told GB News that he used to get recognised on the street ‘all the time’
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“And then a couple of minutes later, a producer from general news comes to my desk and asked me, ‘Have you got Guy Kewney as a guest?’ And he says, ‘Oh, he’s waiting in stage door reception, apparently he’s been waiting there quite a while’. That is when the penny dropped for me.”
Questioned by host Alex Armstrong if he is still recognised on the street 20 years on, Mr Goma joked that he now “wears a hat” in public to avoid being recognised.
He said: “Every time I was out on the street, people recognised me. But now, since that time, I’m wearing the cap.”
Asked if he ended up getting the job at the BBC after the mix-up, Mr Goma concluded: “No, not at all.”