Barry Humphries teases Dermot O'Leary over his sexuality in a case of mistaken identity

Dermot O'leary
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This Morning viewers were left in shock on Friday when comedian Barry Humphries commended Dermot O'Leary for coming out as gay last year.

It was clearly a case of mistaken identity as This Morning front-man Philip Schofield—who presents the show with Holly Willoughby from Monday to Thursday before This Morning's new Friday hosts step in—did indeed share news of his sexuality in 2020.

Wanting to publicly praise the presenter for his bravery, Barry—who was on the show to promote his new programme The Man Behind The Mask—said to Dermot, "I want to congratulate you by the way, seriously, on your courage.

“Last year when he came out and told us about his sexuality.”

Like the rest of the nation watching with mouths ajar, Alison Hammond could not control herself and burst into a fit of giggles. And it's not the first time Alison has made a gaffe on air.

But that didn't stop the Dame Edna star who continued with his speech.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwcyZe-exc8

"A lot of people respected you for that,” he added.

Ever the professional, Dermot who is married to wife Dee, tried to keep a straight face and simply replied, “I’ll pass that on to the gentleman who is here from Monday to Thursday."

It's unclear whether Barry truly did get Philip—who is still married to his wife despite the news last year—and Dermot mixed up, or whether it's all part of his comedic personality.

Twitter viewers were left divided over the whole affair, with some insisting he had it planned all along.

Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield

Credit: Getty
(Image credit: ITV, This Morning)

"Erm that wasn’t accidental or Partridge. It was the comic genius of Barry Humphries," one fan tweeted.

Another said, "The master of comedy. #BarryHumphries."

A third chimed in, "If you think this was an accident, you've not watched Barry Humphries before. Brilliant."

He fooled us!

Georgia Farquharson
Celebrity writer

Georgia is a Celebrity and Royal Writer working across GoodTo and Woman & Home, and the Director and Founder of communications company Farq Media. Prior to this she was Online Editor at New! Magazine – managing all of their digital content and social media accounts. Where she interviewed all of the hottest reality TV stars and spent far too much time commuting to London. She trained at Nottingham Trent University – where she achieved First Class Honours in Print Journalism whilst juggling copious amounts of work experience, freelance writing, blogging and having far too much fun with the dance society. 

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