BBC Breakfast hosts Sally Nugent and Jon Kay were left in stitches at Peggy, who is in the running for ugliest dog in Britain.
Four-year-old Peggy who is believed to be half Pug, half Chinese Crested Dog has made it to the final seven dogs who are considered to be the “most hideous” in the country.
As Peggy and her owner Holly arrived in the studio, presenter Sally, 51, was quick to compliment the pooch and admitted she felt bad using the term “ugly” in front of her.
“Oh Peggy come on, I feel bad about this. Peggy is beautiful in her own way,” Sally said.
Holly explained that she adopted Peggy when she was just six months old, after she started looking online for dogs as she struggled to find a suitable one for her family at the local shelter.
She went on to adopt the “unique” looking Peggy who was the result of an accidental litter. Her friends and family then encouraged her to enter the pup into the unflattering competition for her condition of keeping her tongue out of her mouth and her balding coat.
“I just felt sorry for her,” Holly explained, as Jon, 53, asked the burning question he’d been harbouring: “What’s going on with the tongue?”
Sally started laughing as she cried: “Oh Jon.”
Holly explained as Sally continued to chuckle in the background: “I have no idea, it doesn’t cause her any difficulties, she’s been like that since we got her.
“She can eat, she can drink, she can do everything, she can get it in her mouth, it just doesn’t stay there.”
Sally who covered her face as she struggled to recover from lost it when Jon added: “Maybe she’s sending us a message!”
“Maybe that’s what she thinks of us Jon,” Sally replied, as they both burst into hysterics live on-air.
Later the duo also took to social media to share their affection towards the unfortunate looking dog, with a sweet photo cuddled up to the pup, as Jon tweeted: “Is Peggy the ugliest dog in the UK?
“She’s in the running for that title – but @sallynugent and I LOVE her.. #BBCBreakfast #peggy. If your dog is uglier, please post below…”
However, viewers weren’t all convinced that Peggy was the ugliest dog with many coming to her defence. One tweeted: “Aww she’s not ugly!”
As a second agreed: “Peggy is absolutely gorgeous. What an awful competition to have!”
While a third wrote: “Peggy isn’t ugly at all, she shouldn’t be in an ugliest dog competition she is cute.”
As others said: “Aw wee Peggy on #BBCBreakfast got my vote!”
Some BBC viewers also questioned how appropriate the light-hearted segment was when there was more pressing news to cover.
One person tweeted: “#BBCBreakfast good grief it must be a slow news day!! Hold on nurse’s strike and helicopter crash.”
