A jobseeker was left red-faced after forgetting he had set his voicemail to be read by Britney Spears - until a 'Royal Navy interviewer left him a message suggesting he change it'. Callum Formby forgot he'd set his phone to play a mock-up of The Princess of Pop telling callers to leave a message until he was applying for his dream job in the military.
The embarrassed 23-year-old has since revealed he only remembered when a man who Callum claims to be a Royal Navy interviewer called to discuss an air traffic controller job on a ship that he'd applied for. In his viral video 'Britney' can be heard telling the officer 'sometimes my friend can't come to the phone' and to leave a message - with her iconic song 'hit me baby one more time' playing in the background.
The bizarre message tone ends with the pop star saying 'baby they'll call you back one more time' as a pun on the hit's lyrics. The seemingly deadpan officer says 'good afternoon Britney' and asks her to pass on a message telling Callum to 'A, change his voicemail and B, get in touch with the Royal Navy'. Callum says he was nervous to return the call after hearing the message and claims that when he did the officer jokingly asked if he's the 'Britney boy'.
The college student, who is studying engineering, says he believes the tongue-in-cheek tone was probably a factor in why he didn't land his dream job. His video has been viewed more than 700,000 times with many users calling the embarrassing moment 'iconic' and 'hilarious'.
Callum, said: "I was embarrassed a bit but at least he'd had a bit of a joke about it. I thought 'that's my chance gone already'. I just thought it was funny in lockdown and I'm a fan of Britney Spears. I saved the video from YouTube and played it so it recorded as my message. Because I never hear it I just forgot about it.
"It's always been an interest of mine to be an air traffic controller or a pilot and I thought the Navy would be a good place to get in and see what I wanted to do. It's funny that he addresses Britney but I thought he wouldn't take me seriously after that.
"I was nervous to call him back and see what he said. He said [Navy staff] had a bit of a laugh about it but he was nice. He asked if I'm the Britney boy and I said 'that's me'. We had a good chat but then I never heard back. This is probably why he didn't get back to me.
"I'm not shying away from it [Britney fandom]. If they won't accept me then I'm not working there." The part-time Costa Coffee barrister had submitted a form online to apply for the role and the interviewer was calling to find out more about him.
Despite believing Britney's message ruined his chance at the job he insists it's still his voicemail and he won't be changing it. His video has been liked more than 120,000 times by laughing users who were keen to tell him they'd have given him the job.
One said: "Why on Earth did they not let you in? You're clearly incredible." Another added: "It's okay, you're in the Britney army now."
A third said: "How dare he tell you to change it." A fourth simply stated: "Iconic."
The Royal Navy has been contacted for comment.
