Good Morning Britain viewers were miffed after guest Tim Blakey was ‘constantly’ interrupted while trying to explain how his iPhone saved his life after he fell 15 feet into a crevasse while snowboarding.
The guest told presenters and he had been heading down a Swiss piste on his own when the snow collapsed beneath him and he plummeted onto a snow bridge.
‘It was like one of those horror movies,’ Tim said of the accident. ‘It was a warm day and there were constant drips and snow falling so I didn’t know how it was going to last.
‘There was no one who was going to hear me shouting.’
Tim managed to reach for his phone and luckily had an intermittent internet connection, although his battery was on just 3%.
‘I remembered hearing about this five-click function which will automatically dial emergency services,’ he said.
After using the function, Tim was put through to an operator. ‘They were so efficient,’ he continued.
‘They didn’t go via UK, it was straight to Switzerland, straight to the emergency services.’
‘So it was the power button?’ Adil asked, but as Tim tried to answer, Adil continued: ‘I didn’t know about it but Kate knows about it.’
‘Can I demonstrate it?’ Tim asked, with Kate interrupting: ‘I’ve accidentally done it just when I’ve been fumbling for my keys in my bag.’
Eventually, Tim was able to show viewers that on an iPhone you can press the side button five times to call for help.
If help is not required, users have eight seconds to cancel the call.
However, many viewers expressed their frustrations as Adil and Kate were ‘constantly interrupting’.
‘I could not follow this morning’s item on the snowboarder that went down the crevasse as Adil was constantly interrupting even during the explanation on how to contact the emergency services with your phone,’ one complained.
‘His exuberance was so distracting.’
Echoing a similar sentiment, another fumed: ‘Once again couldn’t hear what Tim was saying in his interview because your presenters like the sound of their own voices.
‘Hope I don’t need to use the emergency phone trick as couldn’t hear what it is. Why didn’t they shut up and let Tim tell his story?’
Others weren’t so harsh though.
‘Snowboarder Tim was very lucky,’ one said. ‘Good tip. Click your mobile phone’s on/off switch 5 times. Connects you to emergency services.’
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV.
