- 7 weeks ago
QVC has given us some truly unforgettable live TV chaos, from accidental swearing and on-air fainting to baffling product demos that went off the rails in the funniest ways possible. Join us as we count down the most bizarre moments from the shopping network’s wildest broadcasts, featuring everything from a moth mistaken for a horse to a wig demo gone horrifically wrong and more!
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00:00You know, we all make mistakes from time to time.
00:02This one, after 30 years, just happens to be my biggest blooper ever.
00:08Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most bizarre moments
00:12from the beautiful, chaotic world of the live shopping network, QVC.
00:17Is she still here? Marianne, don't hang up.
00:19Is she still here?
00:20She hung up on us.
00:22Oh no.
00:23Number 10. Dell crashes in less than two years.
00:26My name is Jacqueline. I'm calling from Michigan.
00:28Hi, Jacqueline. How are you today?
00:30Oh, I'm great.
00:31Good. Nice to have you here. What can we do for you, Jacqueline?
00:33Well, I just wanted to call and say, like Mary Beth, Dell is the only computer we have in our
00:38house.
00:39A Dell computer presentation got an unusually honest review when caller Jacqueline phoned QVC.
00:44She said she loved her Dell Asperian laptop, which she had bought about a year and a half earlier.
00:49Then she revealed her favorite feature, the way it always seems to crash in no time.
00:54You know what my favorite thing is, Rick?
00:57That's a lovely question.
00:58No, I don't know. I don't know if I want to know.
01:00The way it crashes in less than two years.
01:03In fact, the way all the Dells crash in less than two years.
01:06That's the best thing about Dell.
01:07She doubled down, saying all her Dells crashed within two years, while host Rick Dohmeyer quickly realized this was not
01:14the testimonial anyone wanted.
01:16He joked about the setup, thanked Jacqueline, and ended the call expeditiously.
01:19Watching a computer salesperson get ambushed by their own customer is awkward enough.
01:24Hearing her deliver it with complete sincerity makes it unforgettable.
01:27Every once in a while you're going to get a call like that.
01:29And you know what, if that's the way you feel, tell me about this three-year warranty.
01:33Number nine, plasma TV reaches a breaking point.
01:35When his dad had just bought a brand new LCD TV off us here at QVC, four weeks later, Hugh
01:42put the hand controller from his Wii through the screen of his LCD telly, and it was a complete write
01:49-off.
01:50QVC UK presenter Nick Allsbury had spent the day demonstrating a 50-inch plasma television by repeatedly hitting its screen
01:57to show how durable it was.
01:59Apparently, the TV survived every earlier demonstration.
02:02Then came the final presentation.
02:04Allsbury hit the screen again, and this time, it cracked.
02:07I'm going to do something now that makes a lot of people shy away and get quite out of it.
02:13Oh, I've broken it.
02:14He immediately recognized what had happened, and admitted he had been hammering it all day before finally breaking it.
02:20That timing is brutal.
02:22After hours of proving the television could take a beating, the presenter personally discovered its limits on live television.
02:28I've done it so many times today.
02:30You've been hammering it.
02:30I've been hammering it all day, and now I've done it, but there you go.
02:33Nothing says confidence in a product quite like accidentally destroying the sample.
02:38Number eight, caller has a rat problem.
02:40Hello, Bob.
02:42Welcome to the show.
02:43Oh, boy.
02:44It is an honor to speak with you, and I do have the lid lifter.
02:48Uh-huh.
02:49It is a fantastic device.
02:52A QVC demonstration of a safety lid lifter took a bizarre turn when a male caller explained why he bought
02:58one.
02:58He had a rat problem.
03:00According to him, the rats were getting their dirty feet on his food containers, and that was enough to make
03:05him reach for the gadget.
03:06See?
03:07You got right there.
03:08Whatever the mouse was stepping in just went into your food.
03:10And some bacteria, and, you know, I didn't give it to the kids.
03:15But then that, I said, when that happened, I said, that's it.
03:19That's the last straw.
03:20That's the last one, huh?
03:21I'm getting the lid lifter.
03:22The story was so oddly specific that some viewers wondered whether the call was a prank.
03:26And when the host demonstrated the product's safe edges by rubbing them against his skin, the caller immediately delivered a
03:32sarcastic remark about the lack of blood.
03:34This is the best part here.
03:37Yeah.
03:38The sharp edge.
03:38It doesn't even hurt you.
03:39No, it doesn't.
03:40It's not sharp at all.
03:41There would be blood everywhere.
03:42Riveting television, truly.
03:44Number seven, pasties phone call.
03:46Kim Gravel and Mary D'Angelis were discussing one of Gravel's Bell collection tops when caller Mary Ann offered a
03:52testimonial that absolutely nobody could have predicted.
03:55I wanted to tell you that I got that peasant blouse with the tassels.
03:59Yes.
04:00And I used to wear the tassels on my pasties.
04:05Do you know what pasties are?
04:07She explained that she had bought a peasant blouse with tassels and used those tassels on her pasties.
04:12Then she asked the host whether they knew what pasties were.
04:15Mary Ann, I just want to say this.
04:17You are my emotional support diva.
04:21Okay, you have just made my whole entire day.
04:24Gravel was stunned to silence while D'Angelis walked off camera and ended up sprawled on a couch.
04:30Gravel eventually called Mary Ann her emotional support diva and D'Angelis joked that she was getting therapy from the
04:35caller.
04:36Mary Ann is my sister from another mister.
04:41I am.
04:42I have never.
04:43Mary Ann, you made my year.
04:45Mary Ann, for her part, seemed entirely unbothered by the chaos she had just unleashed on live television.
04:51What a legend.
04:52She hung up on us.
04:53Oh no.
04:54Oh no.
04:55Mary Ann, that story.
04:56Did we lose her?
04:57We might have.
04:58We might have.
04:59We're going to try.
05:01We'll keep trying.
05:02I wanted to hear the rest of that story.
05:04Still shopping for chaos?
05:05Scan the QR code on your screen and join the Miss Mojo 24-7 livestream for more wild TV moments.
05:11Number six.
05:12Don't interrupt Rosalie's calls.
05:14I'm so anxious to order my clothes.
05:17Are you really?
05:19I am.
05:20Tell me.
05:22What did you?
05:22So did you like these leggings?
05:25During a January 2016 QVC segment with Leah Williams, caller Rosalie from South Jersey explained
05:30that she lived on an island with few stores, which was why she relied on QVC for her clothing,
05:35especially denim and coat.
05:36So I watch your program to order my clothes.
05:41One and you've been happy with the things that you've gotten?
05:44Well, we'll see now.
05:46This next order, what I get and how they fit.
05:48Then a man in the background apparently interrupted her.
05:50Rosalie instantly forgot she was on live television and snapped at him while letting a curse word slip.
05:56Do you see I'm on the phone?
06:04Oh, it's a live television show.
06:07Williams handled it calmly, acknowledging that Rosalie needed to deal with whoever was interrupting before moving on.
06:12The sheer normality of the exchange makes it hilarious.
06:15But from the sound of it, it appears Rosalie had zero regrets.
06:18I know Rosalie's on the phone.
06:23Things, things happen.
06:25It's a live show for anybody who ever wondered.
06:37Nick Chavez was in the middle of a QVC hair segment when he suddenly lost his footing and hit the
06:43floor.
06:43This longtime hairstylist and QVC vendor went down hard,
06:46then immediately tried to recover and keep the presentation moving.
06:55His hilarious matter-of-fact reaction summed it up perfectly.
06:59The clip became one of QVC's best-known physical bloopers,
07:02with BuzzFeed and E! highlighting it among the network's funniest moments.
07:06Chavez's ability to acknowledge the disaster and carry-on makes the fall even funnier.
07:11Live television had handed him an unexpected blooper and he kind of just rolled with it.
07:15Three times before the show, I said, Nick, you're going to fall off that set sometime.
07:18Oh my gosh, you scared me to death!
07:20I scared myself to death!
07:22Now you know what a real clown I am!
07:24Number 4. Cassie Slane faints on air.
07:26On October 7, 2012, Cassie Slane was presenting an Android tablet with QVC host Dan Hughes
07:32when she suddenly appeared unwell.
07:34But mom and dad want them to be safe.
07:36They want them, they want them to do, you know, everything on.
07:39But, you know, it's...
07:43She patted her chest, struggled to speak, and then fainted into Hughes' arms.
07:46The camera immediately cut to the tablet, while Hughes just carried on pitching the product
07:51like absolutely nothing had happened.
07:53Slane later tried to resume the segment but struggled again, prompting Hughes to acknowledge
07:57that she was having a problem before Caroline Gracie took over.
08:01Anything that is preloaded on here is kid-friendly.
08:04Uh-huh.
08:04Mom and dad have to, have to access...
08:07See, look at what I'll just show you here.
08:09You want to add another, another internet website.
08:13QVC confirmed Slane had experienced a brief fainting spell, and Gracie said low blood sugar
08:18was involved.
08:19I think people are envisioning him stepping over my limp body selling products.
08:24Well, you know, but in fact I was being taken care of by two medics, three producers.
08:30I told him, just please keep going, keep going, I'm fine.
08:33Number three, studio technician ladder demonstration.
08:36You can put this in the coat closet.
08:38That's right, you can put this anywhere.
08:39Slide it under the bed.
08:41Absolutely.
08:41Great minds work alike.
08:42Go in a kid's toy box.
08:43QVC was demonstrating an extension ladder when studio technician Chris took a nasty fall
08:48during the live presentation.
08:49A caller had just been praising the ladder, saying she owned one, loved it, and considered
08:53it safe.
08:54Then, Chris lost his balance and fell several feet onto the studio floor.
08:58I have this ladder, it is awesome.
09:00Oh, now what did you use it for, Renee?
09:02Everybody wants this ladder.
09:04I live in an apartment with, um, vaulted ceilings.
09:08Uh-oh.
09:09The host asked whether he was okay, but also kept the sales presentation moving.
09:13Even the names became confused, with Chris briefly being called Kevin, the co-host's name.
09:18That's why I always suggest when you use a ladder, you should have somebody there to stabilize
09:21it.
09:21If you don't have somebody there to help you out, you do have rubberized feet.
09:24These do not tend to slip on any type of surface, but you do have to be careful, always.
09:28The caller just watched her entire safety endorsement collapse in real time.
09:33It really is the timing that kills you.
09:35I had carpenters in here.
09:36Right.
09:37They had never seen that ladder.
09:39Really?
09:40And they were up here constantly borrowing it.
09:42I have a guy coming tomorrow to use it.
09:45It is absolutely phenomenal.
09:46Number two, Tony Bratton wig gaff.
09:48All I could do was freeze.
09:51As soon as the words came out, I was like, oh my gosh, just get the camera off of me.
09:59Wig designer Tony Bratton was live on QVC presenting her salon select wig, trying to describe
10:04the wave pattern as something resembling a fresh salon blowout.
10:08The word that actually came out of her mouth was not blowout.
10:12It was an explicit phrase that nobody expected to hear on a shopping channel at any hour,
10:17let alone mid-wig demonstration.
10:19Again, it looks like you went and got a blowjob at your blowout at your salon.
10:27Oh my gosh.
10:28Bratton froze, whispered, oh my god, with her back to the camera and slowly crumbled to the floor.
10:34Co-host Terry Kahn heroically tried to keep the segment alive.
10:38Everything ships to you for free, but that goes away at the end of the day.
10:41I will remind you that this is a one-time-only price.
10:45The clip went massively viral, with internet users giving their own renditions of it.
10:50Bratton was eventually invited onto The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon to reenact the moment.
10:54While you're here, would you like to help me kick off the show?
10:56Sure, let's do it.
10:57Yeah, in your style.
10:57Here we go, just read that.
10:58Here we go, ready?
10:59Uh-huh.
11:00We've got a great show for you tonight!
11:02Give it up for the Roots!
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11:27Influence.
11:29Number one, host mistakes a moth for a horse.
11:33A camera demonstration became an accidental lesson in why producers have earpieces when
11:38the host confidently identified a moth as a horse.
11:41That picture, remember the picture of the horse I showed you earlier?
11:44Well, here it is, blown up.
11:48This is a big horse.
11:49While showing an enlarged photograph supposedly taken by the camera, the presenter repeatedly
11:54admired the horse and even praised some of its apparent features.
11:57Look at that horse.
12:00The bushy tail, the big teeth, the hooves.
12:04For a meaningful stretch of live television, this man stole a camera using passionate commentary
12:09about a horse that was, in reality, a moth.
12:12Viewers must have thought they were seeing things.
12:14Eventually, someone in the producer's booth corrected him through his earpiece, and he
12:18changed course.
12:19Okay, my producer Territ Cates just told me this isn't a horse, it's a butterfly.
12:24Yeah, actually, it may in fact be a moth.
12:27That camera's image clarity did not survive the endorsement.
12:31What's your favorite QVC meltdown?
12:34Let us know in the comments below.
12:35Well, thank you so much.