A holiday she’ll never forget. KTLA reporter Wendy Burch witnessed first hand how wild and rowdy people can be while celebrating the 4th of July.
While reporting live at the Ironman competition in Los Angeles’ Hermosa Beach on Tuesday, July 4, a drunk competitor vomited all over Burch and the shirtless man she was interviewing. The news correspondent can be heard yelling, “No, no!” right before the moment of impact. The video then pauses and cuts back to the studio, where the show’s anchors struggle to hide their horror.
“It’s a locker room celebration, ladies and gentleman,” said host Henry DiCarlo. Meanwhile, cohost Christina Pascucci had her hand to her mouth in disbelief. “First of all, Wendy, bless you, and run,” she managed to say.
Added DiCarlo, “We’re not going back, and we suggest that, Wendy, you get out of there now. Before you get covered in something other than beer.”
Burch has since spoken out about the unfortunate incident, stating that she thought she was still live on the air although viewers witnessed the clip freezing on screen. “One would assume this was the quick action of a thoughtful technical director who wanted to spare the viewing audience of anything offensive. Nope. It was just a technical glitch,” Burch explained in a Huffington Post essay. “So for the better part of the next two minutes, I just kept interviewing drunken people while sudsy substances flew in the air and landed in my hair. Let’s say, after that, it was a wrap. I drove home, took a hot shower and a long nap.”
