James Blunt praised for response to ‘dreadful’ BBC Breakfast interview: ‘Possibly the worst I’ve ever heard’

James Blunt has been praised for his handling of a “silly” and “embarrassing” interview on BBC Breakfast.

The singer appeared on the show on Friday (4 February), where he was interviewed about his Greatest Hits album by presenters Charlie Stayt and Naga Munchetty,

After a compilation of Blunt’s old music videos was shown, Stayt said: “You appear to be getting younger. Can I reflect on that for a moment? Looking at that video and looking at you now… what’s going on?”

Blunt, eyeing the opportunity for a quip, replied: “Well, you know, I think with plastic surgery it’s little and often is the technique I would advise.”

Stayt then joked back: “As you well know, some people will think that’s a double bluff.”

Blunt, clearly feeling awkward by the joke being continued, looked at Stayt blankly, before stating: “It’s not, no… I don’t know where to go from here.”

Earlier in the interview, Stayt said of Blunt’s hit song “You’re Beautiful”: “I think there would be people who would turn up to a concert by you if you just played that song over and over again. It would be a first.”

Blunt, seemingly bemused by the point, said: “It would be. I don’t know if I’d be able to handle the whole gig myself. I think I’d leave early on.”

Viewers were left squirming due to the interview, with one person calling it “dreadful” and “appalling”.

“Even James Blunt thought so,” the viewer added, with another stating: “That was a really surreal interview with James Blunt on #BBCBreakfast – they didn’t know what to say to him, he didn’t know how to respond. Weird.”

Another viewer called it “very possibly the worst interview I’ve ever heard”, adding; “Well done James for putting up with their inane questioning with such good grace.”

This week, Blunt jokingly threatened to release new music if Spotify doesn’t cut ties with Joe Rogan.

Blunt’s quip came amid the ongoing battle between the Swedish streaming company and musicians Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, who have removed their music catalogues the platform over its $100m (£74.5m) exclusivity contract with Rogan for his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience.

Light-heartedly commenting on the Spotify controversy, Blunt’s tweet, posted on Saturday (29 January), read: “If @Spotify doesn’t immediately remove @JoeRogan, I will release new music onto the platform.”