This Was NOT Okay | The ITV News Incident 

UPDATE! - Rageh Omaar has made a statement thanking everyone for their well wishes! Explaining he remained on air as he was 'determined to finish the broadcast' Best wishes to Rageh from all here at AMTV!

Get well soon Rageh ! Listened to you for years ! God bless 👍❤️

I had my first stroke at the age of 37 and the second one five years later. It can happen to anyone, even children.

I was watching news at ten last night and i saw happen live and began getting quite worried for what was going on with rageh i watched him growing up and it was sad to see him struggle with his line and it was clear he wasn't well and i wish rageh all the best in his recovery and hope to be back on presenting the news that he loves very soon get well soon

He’s a top class journalist & presenter. I knew that there was something wrong as it was happening. Hope he’s ok and makes a full recovery whatever the problem was.

I remember, back in the early 80s, Newsreader John Darren, while reading the news on BBC Wales, had a huge heart attack.... I don't think he ever returned to the screen. It was shocking but he had the composure to apologize and tell the Director he was very ill and needed to be replaced! Class act.

Personally, if it was me in charge of the broadcast, I would've pulled the news of the air and sent in medical teams the second I knew something was wrong

As long as Rageh is ok, that's all that matters. He's a legend and a lovely guy, one of the most distinguished and best loved newsreaders.

When I get a migraine, I stumble over my words like that, and I've also tried to power through to get things finished with similar results. It's easy to underestimate how much conditions such as that affect you, making you think you can finish things off before the pain truly kicks in. I hope it was something as simple as that, rather than a stroke, and that he'll be in top form again soon.

It was shocking to watch Rageh struggle with the News last night, deeply upsetting and concerning. Wishing him a speedy recovery.

Best of health to him ❤

I think he kept it together really well even though he was having problems. He is a professional. Get well soon?

I felt so sorry for Rageh. It must have been so terrifying for him. I saw an article saying that he apparently refused to hand in the bulletin as bosses were asking him too, which shows great strength and determination from him. Hope he gets well soon!

Respect to him for wanting to continue, but it shouldn't have been his choice. ITV have a duty of care and that duty of care would have been to have taken him off screen.

I really hope he gets better he’s amazing at his job so best wishes to him

Props to you Adam. When you have done these videos on serious subjects, your professionalism and empathy shines through.

get well soon rageh💖💖💖

What an upsetting situation. I'm so pleased to have since heard that he is being looked after. He continued on like a true professional and I hope he has a speedy recovery!

The poor sod! He does not deserve to be the subject of speculation.

May God Bless him with full recovery Amin

4:55 they should of just said "Rageh Omaarr is unable to present this part of the news, but he wishes you all a good evening" on a time card thing.

Not sure what happened but I suffer with panic disorder and these are they symptoms that happen to me during a severe anxiety attack and can last a very long time. Hope he is OK and thank you for covering this. X

I really Hope Rageh Omaar will get better... Like seriously i want him to stay ok...

I did not watch the broadcast in question, so I wondered what the heck happened, thank you for explaining what happened Adam!

One of my favourite journo's. Always watched him when he was reporting from Iraq. Get well soon

I hope he gets better soon

I really hope he gets better soon. As everything goes, health always comes first.

Watching Rageh struggling on last night's News at Ten was distressing. It was hard to watch him getting his words out and my mother usually witnesses him having a drink of water but he didn't even do it. I'm glad he was OK but the management should be ashamed of themselves for not getting a stand-in. It's not the first time as Rohit Kachroo appeared to have a diabetic episode as he couldn't get his words out.

I have had a TIA and a stroke with no muscle weakness. When you are experiencing it you know something is wrong but you can't put it together. That's it important to have someone asses them quickly, "FAST". But really it could be anything from a migraine or low glucose. Hope its something easy to fix

This was heartbreaking to watch... I hope he'll be okay, I wish him a speedy recovery!

Hope you get well soon 🙏🥰

I've had a situation before in the past where I struggled to talk and pronounce normal words and it ended up being a TIA otherwise known as a mini stroke. I remember I was texting someone on my phone then suddenly out of nowhere my eyes went all blurry and I couldn't speak or even spell simple words. Maybe this is what happened to Rageh on the news.

It is, very upsetting, bless him and wish him all the best.Had a Stroke myself and was looking for the signs.

Hope he understands what happened to him, & has a sense of peace, & confidence, that all will be well. I did not see a struggle for words, but could not follow his word choices. That is ok, because I don’t always follow news reporters exact speech.

This doesn't need endless discussion. He felt unwell during a live broadcast. What is so distressing about it?? People fall ill it happens. I really feel the internet and social media has made people lose their minds. This really is a non story.

Looks like a stroke. Certainly not alcohol. Hope he’s okay every minute is critical.

Poor Rageh Omaar 😢😢

Rageh Omaar = A god of a newsreader to continue ❤♥♥♥♥♥

Hadn’t heard about this until now. Cheers for letting me know Adam

When I was watching this, I immediately thought that he was having a migraine attack. That happened to a live reporter in Los Angeles about 15 years ago. It can be very scary and disturbing, but it’s not particularly life-threatening and extremely treatable. He’ll be OK and back on the air shortly if that’s the case. Best to him and a speedy recovery!

The concern and responses from his journalists with various organisations illustrates the respect he is held with by his peers. It did seem a stroke related event. I sincerely send my wishes for his recovery, and for his family as they deal with his sudden ill health.

What a brave soul to come on like that must of been terrified poor man get well soon

Given ITV National (including News at Ten) is done in the same place as ITV London is surely they could have switched over to the ITV London Newscaster to get Rageh off air quicker as during the weekend, the ITV National News are done by the ITV London Newscasters

The thing that surprised me was he's 56. I thought he was a lot younger than that.

A similar health scare happened to me about 3 years ago when watching a compilation of scary PIFs and PSAs, I think it was the "10 Most Effective British Adverts" from HelloImAPizza. It was my first time watching the video. I got to the one for "Motor Neurone Disease" which as you may know is a very scary and traumatic one, for whatever reason I had a massive blackout and I almost didn't wake up. I don't know if it was signs of a stroke or just a mini seizure but I started sweating, shaking and my mouth got dry. No idea what happened. When I've watched that video again since then, I was totally fine, which is weird.

Hope Rageh is well at least.

Hope he feels better soon…. I hope his colleagues asked him like you said what a trooper ❤

He's 56?! Wow! Commendable that he remained professional but hard to watch, poor fella.

I'm thinking TIA

One morning in 1996, the Tyne Tees newsreader Victoria Huxley fainted live on air. As there weren't many staff in the building they left her in vision for nearly a minute before cutting over to the Bilsdale bulletin that was going out to the southern half of the region. She was fine but I saw it as it went out, and the delay seemed wrong to me at the time. A suspected stroke is much worse.

Get well soon rageh

How awful! I do indeed join you in wishing Rageh a speedy recovery. TW: Re. Stroke... I think he may have had a Transient Ischaemic Attack (TIA) a.k.a a 'mini stroke'. Luckily, if treated immediately then you can prevent a full on stroke. So act FAST even if the symptoms go away almost as suddenly as they came about. Only brining this up so that perhaps some good can come from this deeply worrying incident.

I hope Rageh feels better soon. I don't want to speculate or theorise, he could've had a migraine, and that can really mess with your speech sometimes. I guess, so can anxiety where you just can't get your words out? I wouldn't know because I wasn't there.

Sure hope that he’s ok, that’s for sure. Somber but great video.👍😔

This is a sensitive issue if ITV has pulled this from the recordings why are you showing it!!

I know others have already said it, but it may well have been a TIA or 'mini-stroke', rather than a full stroke, as a TIA has somewhat milder symptoms than a full stroke, whilst still usually being fairly life changing for the person who has one. It's also possible that it was just a really severe migraine, which can, in the worst case, have similar symptoms to a TIA. Or maybe he is a migraine sufferer and is quite used to experiencing migraine symptoms so he wanted to push on with the broadcast believing he was experiencing a migraine, but he was actually suffering a TIA on this occasion? The main thing is he got checked and received medical treatment pretty quickly, as getting checked quickly is so so important with these sorts of symptoms, as I know well from a close relative of mine who wouldn't get checked for days after having such symptoms, then insisted on driving themselves to the doctors surgery whereupon the doctor diagnosed a TIA and called an ambulance. This was a good few years ago and I didn't know about FAST back then but I wish I had known and called the ambulance days earlier when I saw their symptoms and had the chance, although to be clear my close relative is still with us and mostly still recognisable as the same person, so we didn't lose anything like as much of them as we could easily done because of the delay in getting them checked. Thank you for helping to promote 'FAST' in this video.

He looks very puffy / eyes watery. Could it be a severe allergic reaction? Looks like a huge autoimmune response. I dunno just a thought, hope he feels better soon ❤ bless him x

I hope he is feeling better ❤

Could be something straightforward like a migraine (this happens with me), or low blood sugar (I’ve seen this when my diabetic mum’s had a hypo); both can present symptoms similar to a stroke and what we actually observed here. If he felt that he could finish the programme, then he may already have known what was causing the issue in question, and believed from past experience that he could continue. The crew would have asked him through his earpiece if they needed to cut to a break so that he could be replaced.

I realised something was wrong from Thursday news at 10. He missed his words that night as well.😢

I hope he's okay now! Bless him, soldiered on! Though I don't think that ITV would've just forced him to carry on broadcasting, they would've asked him. Also has it been pointed out to you that you have a striking resemblance to Noel Edmonds?

Is this guy Noel Edmond's lovechild?

When a friend of mine exhibited symptoms in this way they had no idea they were unwell and carried on their job as well. They may have tried to pull him off air but he said he was ok and like his statement says he wanted to finish the broadcast.

I hope he’s alright. What I find most infuriating is people may have thought, like you said, the autocue was malfunctioning. But to have time for some footage to run and for Omar to *come back* after that I just hope someone made the 999 call during the video playing.

Migraines can manifest very quickly & some can look and feel like a stroke especially ocular migraines. My friends husband had one and the paramedics initially thought he had had a stroke. As a migraine sufferer they can be sudden and debilitating you become disorientated, unable to see clearly or speak coherently, sometimes causing aura and visual disturbances even blind spots. If it was a sudden migraine attack i can relate to exactly how he was feeling. wish him a speedy recovery🙏🏻

I hope he’s okay😢

Get well soon, Rageh. I hope you're doing okay.

He seemed to be having a panic/anxiety attack. I have them all the time, and act like that. At least that's what the medical professionals keep telling me lol.

Not to take things out of context, but I suffer from anxiety and this is often how I react. The fact that he wanted to finish, or thought he was find to close the bulletin is totally normal. No need to blame ITV for this, in fact don't blame anyone for this. Life happens ! We are all human after all.

why do we hide from reality so often?

This is serious, for a person to force themselves to finish work in a critical medical condition is almost like wanting to die while still alive, I'm glad Omaar didn't have any major problems and is making a full recovery. In my area of Brazil, two news presenters had a health problem live, one had to be replaced by another reporter (who informed the viewers what had happened), another presenter was mediating an electoral debate and it was clear that she was visibly exhausted, after she asked the candidate a question and while he was answering the question, she left to probably sit down when she fell and everyone ran to help her, after the commercial break another reporter went to mediate the debate explaining what happened.

This is a little similar to an incident when a Radio 4 newsreader had a migraine while reading the 7 pm news, I think sometime in the 1990s. He stumbled through reading it and then said, "I'm sorry I can't continue". It was only supposed to be a two-minute bulletin. At first I thought this is what had happened here, and I suppose there are similarities, but this is clearly much more serious.

Neurological specialists diagnosed the incident as a Transient Neurowobbylistic Attack. He was right as rain after a course of gene editing and several courses of low doses of hallucinogens. Interestingly, he amazed the doctors with his sudden ability to speak fluent Italian, like a native speaker, without ever having studied the language. He now goes by the name Roberto.

that should have been stopped, hope he is ok

Get better fast 🙏🏻🙏🏻

Oh shame. I feel bad for him.

Aww bless him. It's awful for anyone to fall ill at work but when your job is live television everyone sees you start to fall apart. Hope he's okay.

He might have had a "mini stroke" or TIA... similar things happen to me. However, I also get similar symptoms with certain migraines... so it is very difficult to tell what is going on, when you are experiencing it at the time, and he might have just thought that it was nothing too serious. He is a professional, and I've no doubt that he volunteered to continue with the bulletin, to finish the programme. You just get the feeling that that is exactly the kind of thing that he would do. I hope that he is doing ok, and recovers well.

Hope for his safe return❤

I Woke up and guess what.... When I found my parents CITV Was on. Is this A joke

Looks like a TIA, my husband had one like this.

That is very sad, God Bless you Omar...Get well very soon..

If you mentioned it would have been insensitive why did you repeat it

Poor lad...

was a stoke left eyes dropping

If not a stroke, it could have been a TIA or "mini-stroke." Similar symptoms but lasts a lot shorter an amount of time than a full-blown stroke.

He’s Is Not Okay

Oh my word. Was this the first time? I remember watching one time recently and i mentioned to the people i was with something wasnt right and i dont think it was this occasion. Shocked

May the Good Lord continue to bless you and make you whole again🙏🏾🫶🏾

That is worrying sounds like a stroke, or brain shutting down due to infection or injury! Raggy used to present teen newsround, when I was a teenager. I hope to gods that he was okay! ITV news should have gone off air from the first sign of a stroke, how dare they allow him to continue the last few moments. That’s way beyond the executives at the higher levels. Producer and director of the floor, should have acted faster. The quicker the medics get to a stroke patient the the faster the start of stroke medication and rehabilitation. This also happened with George Aleigahi a few years ago. A Stroke can happen to anyone at any age. I was definitely heading for a stroke because of undiagnosed High Blood Pressure. I’ve seen young fit 20 year olds who had their lives changed by a stroke through no fault of their own.

Iv watched this news reader and has always been professional hope he gets well soon and I didn't know he was that age he looks a lot younger good luck to you

I saw him the day before this happened in central London, for 56 he was looking sort of unwell. Hope he’s ok

3:19 you say "it's the correct decision for itv to not play the clips again as it's extremely distasteful to do so." However you think it ok to post the clips on RU-vid to make money from it🤔

Are you the same guy as Ringway Manchester, you sound exactly the same?

I thought it was one of his better segues.

Your my news man

As soon as I saw the host of this channel, I thought of Worzel Gummidge

Hard to watch. Get well soon xx

I grew up with my parents running a TV, Radio and stereo Sales, rentals and fixing shop through the 70's to mid 90's, I not had a TV for over 10 years now and only watch it when visiting my mate on his boat, I also live on a boat but mainly use YT to watch stuff. This is something I not heard about, so thank you for this update.

The studio Director would have undoubtedly talked to Rageh over the talkback system during the transmission of the VT item and checked whether he wanted to continue or not . Studios have remote robotic cameras these days so it’s unlikely anyone else would have been in the studio at the time. We all wish Rageh well and that he is recovering from his ordeal.