Mark Lawrenson may have just endured his biggest TV fail to date.
That’s not a statement we make lightly; many of you will remember the time that the ex-Liverpool player-turned-pundit-and-quite-rubbish-score-predictor did this on Football Focus.
And then there was that Match of the Day analysis where he accidentally referred to Everton’s Steven Pienaar as Steven “Penis” (skip to just before the 20-second mark).
But neither of those incidents can hold a candle to this slip-up. Lawrenson was appearing on a Celebrity edition of Pointless, doubling up with Dan Walker on the podium.
It was Lawro’s turn to answer a question about countries that begin with the letter ‘A’, and he thought he’d played a blinder when he put forward “Alaska” as his guess. It might well have been a pointless answer, were it not for the fact that Alaska is a U.S state, and definitely not a country.
Well this is embarrassing 😂😂😂 https://t.co/HHffweWHnI
— 101 Great Goals (@101greatgoals) May 21, 2016
Poor old Lawro looked shellshocked when his answer was revealed to be incorrect. In fairness it’s probably a mistake that a lot of people make, but the reaction of his fellow contestants (particularly Mark “Chappers” Chapman’s) says it all.
If you re-watch the clip you can see just how much self-control host Alexander Armstrong had not to visibly double-take when Lawrenson made his guess.
Here’s how the geographical gaffe went down on social media.
Mark Lawrenson naming a country beginning with "A"…
"Alaska"
That is all…#pointless
— Marc Iles (@MarcIles) May 21, 2016
@BBCSport @mrdanwalker Did Lawrenson not say he is a retired genius , he was as useful as a hole in a canoe.
— Don steele (@donaldsteele58) May 21, 2016
https://twitter.com/whoaskedya/status/734025871112167425
Mark Lawrenson. The gift that keeps on giving
— Mr O (@itsmr0) May 21, 2016
Oh dear.
