The One Show has reportedly been left in chaos as a pest control company has been called out to the BBC studios 20 separate times to help contain the cockroach infestation
The One Show’s set is reportedly crawling with cockroaches, causing chaos at the BBC’s swanky New Broadcasting House in London.
According to The Sun, pest busters from Rentokil have been summoned 20 times to wage war on the critters, armed with bug spray, over the 18 months leading up to June 2024. The celeb green room behind the scenes of The One Show is apparently where the creepy crawlies are having a field day.
The Sun obtained a report from July 2023, which read: “ONE SHOW AGAIN. Today’s visit on site was to conduct an insecticidal spray treatment for cockroach activity. A treatment was conducted in the following areas: Men’s toilet, ladies’ toilets, men’s service partner toilets, women’s service partner toilet, green room corridor and makeup room.”
Fast forward to January 2024, and the log reportedly reads: “Reports of cockroach activity in the locker room and One Show corridor remain persistent.”
But the Beeb is playing it cool, stating: “Like other responsible organisations, we have an effective and proactive pest control policy in place across all our sites,” reports the Mirror.
(Image: BBC)
They added, “On the rare occasion we receive a report of an unwelcome visitor in one of our buildings, we always take swift action to call in the experts who take care of the issue.”
This isn’t the first time the BBC has had to deal with unwanted guests; the EastEnders lot at Elstree was rumoured to be overrun by rats. Gossip from June 2024 suggests these furry fiends were nibbling on props and leaving their mark all over Albert Square.
An insider described the rat situation as “pretty gross”, prompting pest control to make a house call. Yet, the broadcasting titan has batted away whispers of a rodent invasion on the lavish £87million Walford set.
A spokesperson at the time declared: “There is no rat infestation at EastEnders but on the odd occasion, if we have suspected an unauthorised visit from a furry visitor, we have called in the specialists.”
(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)And it’s not just Blighty grappling with critters; stateside too, the US chat fest ‘The Talk’ hit the headlines back in 2021 when a cockroach photobombed reporter Sheryl Underwood. The cheeky insect sauntered across the scene and its antics quickly became an online sensation.
Bug boffin Doug Yanega spilled the tea to The Hollywood Reporter saying, “It’s an adult roach blurry as it is, it clearly has its wings and adult roaches can fly, quite well, and they typically do so at night when they’re most active. Because they fly, and because they’re attracted to lights at night, like most nocturnal insects, they will find their way into many places very easily.”
He offered comfort to those squirming, suggesting: “It could easily have been by itself, rather than some evil harbinger of a hidden horde.”