BBC explains why Sir Paul McCartney's Glastonbury set was not shown live after complaints

The BBC has defended its decision to delay airing Sir Paul McCartney's historic Glastonbury performance after it came under criticism from viewers.

Sir Paul took to the Pyramid stage to perform his headline show last night (Saturday) at 9.30pm with those lucky enough to be Macca's set to soak in the stars standout performance.

But back home viewers took to social media with scathing criticism of the Beeb's decision to delay Macca's set for one hour after it started — rather than airing as a live performance.

Fans who were following the event live on social media were left frustrated as they couldn't follow reaction of the event in real time.

Sir Paul McCartney's set wasn't shown live provoking strong reaction from fans (GETTY)

One fan tweeted: "Any idea why it's not live." Another added: "No bloody teasers because it ain't on the telly!!!"

Meanwhile a third tweeted about the lack of clarity for viewers adding: "Well if that's the case then it should be explained by the BBC and not presented to us as if it's going out totally live at 10.30. I and many others just hate false information, it may be the case it's always been like that but don't promote it as live! #Glastonbury #PaulMcCartney."

Another added: "What a stupid idea to delay the headline set Paul McCartney #Glastonbury2022."

Sir Paul invited guests Foo Fighters Dave Grohl and Bruce Springsteen to perform during the epic 3 hour set (Samir Hussein/WireImage)

McCartney and Springsteen performed together on the Pyramid stage (Samir Hussein/WireImage)

But the best quip came from another who joked: "Where's Macca?!? I can't stay up this late at my age!!!"

Despite the majority of the Glastonbury headline performances being shown live on the BBC iPlayer, Sir Paul’s show was not aired on the broadcaster’s channels until an hour after his set had started.

The BBC said it was not shown live due to the “complexity” of broadcasting an event of that scale and volume, adding in a statement that “there is sometimes variation between performances taking place and their transmission”.

Paul McCartney was worth waiting for when it was aired as fans praised his performance (REX/Shutterstock)

But although the delay didn't sit well with some fans the music more than made up for many when they did get to watch the Liverpudlian music star in action.

And he was joined on stage by guest star Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl who arrived on stage to play a medley of songs with the headliner, including Band On The Run.

Later in the line up Bruce Springsteen, joined Sir Paul for a rendition of Glory Days which was received to rapturous applause.