Watch: News Anchor Catches Front Tooth When It Falls Out During Live Broadcast
People deal with the unexpected in a multitude of ways. Some brush off even the most nerve-wracking incidents as if they were nothing, while others can’t even stomach the idea of a surprise party.
Marichka Padalko has proven she falls into the incredibly even-keeled camp — and with three kids, that probably comes in handy on the job as well as at home.
The Ukrainian news anchor has been at her work for 20 years, and in that time she’s seen a lot of things.
On July 15, 2020, it was what her viewers saw that shot her into international headlines. As she delivered the news, toward the middle of the broadcast, her front tooth came loose and started slipping.
Without missing a beat, she discreetly put her hand over her mouth, caught the tooth and continued her work without doing anything to indicate embarrassment or that anything unusual had happened.
“Honestly, I thought the incident would go unnoticed,” she wrote in an Instagram caption, according to a translation. “This episode was deliberately not posted on the TSN YouTube channel.”
“But we underestimated the attention of our viewers. Blogger @ekulka posted this in her profile, and … it spread to all publications, not only Ukrainian ones.”
Padalko went on to explain that years ago, her child had picked up a heavy metal alarm clock next to the bed, waved it around gleefully and accidentally hit her in the mouth, splitting her tooth in half.
She got the tooth repaired, but has been planning on getting it looked at again. Now she really has a reason to get it redone.
Despite the faux pas happening on live television and making its way around the world, viewers and commenters have been largely positive, commending her for her extreme professionalism during a surprise that would have left many floundering.
According to what she wrote in that Instagram caption, a colleague of hers remarked that she behaved so cooly “you reacted as if you lose your teeth every day.”
This isn’t the first unusual occurrence Padalko has experienced as a newscaster, as she has experienced other “upsets” before, including being licked by a dog.
Despite the unknown factors in live news, it seems Padalko enjoys the challenge.
“This is probably my most curious experience in twenty years as a presenter,” she wrote. “Live broadcasting is wonderful because it is always unpredictable.”
“Throughout this story, I was personally impressed by the amount of support I received,” she continued, “both in the comments and in personal messages.”
“Friends, thank you very much. In any situation, keep calm.”
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