What a way to wake up! Patrick Dempsey accidentally spoke about erections during a Sunday, August 21, appearance on the Australian morning TV show Today.
As seen in the clip above, the Grey’s Anatomy alum, 50 — who was interviewed alongside his Bridget Jones’s Baby costar Renee Zellweger — was asked to try out his best Aussie accent during their interview. While he refrained from speaking like a native, he does did attempt to flaunt his knowledge of slang from Down Under.
“Traveller,” he said. “Traveller’s a beer you travel with, right?” Immediately, show cohost Richard Wilkins burst out into laughter and advised the actor that the word “traveller” has a rather different meaning in Australia. “You’re not supposed to say that!” Wilkins said through guffaws.
Understandably confused, Dempsey replied: “What’s a traveller? Have I alienated everyone in the country?” (In case you didn’t know, the term “traveller” is used to describe an erection that a man gets while using public transportation.)
“All the blokes who are watching are sitting upright now,” Wilkinson quipped back.
Though they moved on to other topics, “traveller” talk resurfaced toward the end of Dempsey and Zellweger’s segment. At that point, the Flypaper star demanded to know what the word meant: “What the heck is a traveller?”
Wilkinson whispered in McDreamy’s ear to let him know what all the previous uproar had been about. “Oh, excuse me,” a red-faced Dempsey responded.
Watch the hilarious video above. Bridget Jones’s Baby hits theaters Friday, September 16.
