2023’s best, funniest and most WTF moments

Remember when that composer at the coronation had to come out and say he wasn’t Meghan Markle in disguise?

Well, 2023 was full of hilarious, jaw-dropping and laugh-out-loud moments just like that.

We’ve rounded up some of our favourites.

Harry’s virginity

Prince Harry really did tell all in his tell-all memoir which was released in January.

While there were several note-worthy revelations (the Nazi costume apparently not being all his fault, “Willy” calling Meghan “rude” and the brothers getting into fisticuffs – resulting in Harry falling on to the dog bowl), the one that gave rise to countless memes and re-enactments using a snippet from the audiobook was the prince describing how he lost his virginity in a field to an “older lady”.

In case you missed it (unlikely), here’s that passage:

“I mounted her quickly, after which she spanked my ass and held me back… one of my mistakes was letting it happen in a field, just behind a busy pub.

“No doubt someone had seen us.”

Good evening Daddy

Live TV is hard.

You can misspeak or lose your train of thought, or accidentally stick your middle finger up at millions of viewers dunking biscuits into their tea (more on that one later).

Sometimes, you might even call a guest daddy, just like our very own Mark Austin did when he was talking to policing commentator Danny Shaw (you understand the mix-up) about alleged escaped terror suspect Daniel Khalife.

The King gets bored at his own party

2022 gave us the King and the leaky pen, but 2023 gave us the King complaining in his golden carriage about how bored he was at his coronation.

He was filmed waiting outside Westminster Abbey for the rest of his family who were running late.

This is what a lip reader thinks he was saying:

“We can never be on time… This is a negative… There’s always something… This is boring.”

Victoria Beckham is ‘working class’

How did Victoria Beckham – a woman who made a name for herself as a posh person – think she could get away with telling the world that she came from humble beginnings?

In the greatly anticipated Beckham documentary on Netflix, the Spice Girl began to talk about how she and husband David were such a good match because of their very similar “working class” backgrounds, when he swiftly reminded her that you’re not very “working class” if your dad took you to school in a Rolls-Royce.

She took it in good humour and even launched a T-shirt to celebrate the moment.

Taylor Swift puts Travis Kelce ‘on the map’

2023 saw Taylor Swift find romance with a superstar American football player – but nobody had really heard of him before Swift made him famous, right?

That’s what women on social media all over the US were teasing their boyfriends/husbands/dads/brothers with after the megastar was pictured at one of his games.

If you missed the trend, the videos followed pretty much exactly the same format:

Girl: Isn’t it so good that this Travis Kelce guy is gonna have such a good career now that Taylor Swift has put him on the map?

Guy: Put him on the map?

Girl: Yeah, like she’s totally made him famous.

Guy: You’re kidding right? You’re kidding.

Girl: No, he’s going to be so famous now, it’s great, right?

Guy: Travis Kelce is the best tight-end in literally the entire world. He’s one of the most famous football players in the NFL.

‘I’m not Meghan, I’m a composer’

Sir Karl Jenkins is a Welsh composer.

He is not Meghan Markle in disguise and he’s had that moustache since he was 18.

The 79-year-old musician, who was sitting next to Andrew Lloyd Webber in Westminster Abbey for the King’s coronation, sparked speculation on social media that he was the duchess undercover in a large white wig and glasses.

After having had enough of the rumours that suggested otherwise, he released a video statement.

“My name is Sir Karl Jenkins. I understand there’s been a lot of interest in me since I appeared at the coronation of King Charles III. I was there because I’d written some music for the service.

“I was quite surprised that some people thought I was Meghan Markle in disguise. Someone wrote I was there to steal the crown jewels.

“I look this way all the time. I’ve had this moustache since I was 18. So that’s me. Nothing sinister about it or surprising at all.”

Bad blood between Biden and Taylor?

Oh, President Biden.

You can rattle Trump supporters and gun enthusiasts all you want, but antagonising the Swifties is career suicide.

The American president has been known for the odd blunder here and there, but he really stuck his foot in it when he used the name Britney in an apparent reference to Taylor Swift’s most recent overseas tour.

Sex noises disrupt Euro 2024 draw

Moaning could be heard at one of the biggest football events of the year – and it wasn’t Gary Neville talking about Manchester United’s woes!

It was actually sexual noises being played during UEFA’s live draw, causing a stir on social media.

There were smirks in the audience as the sound of a woman moaning interrupted proceedings for several minutes.

Serial prankster Daniel Jarvis later owned up to playing out the sound – and he had previously taken credit for a similar incident during live BBC coverage of a game between Wolverhampton and Liverpool.

BBC presenter flips the bird

Five, four, three, two, one… aaand viral phenomenon.

When BBC News presenter Maryam Moshiri began her crude countdown to going on air, she had no idea she’d be giving the middle finger to the nation as well as to her studio colleagues.

The joke was mostly well-received all round, and the footage that has since been released of her full sarcastic countdown from five has also been a hit on social media.

It was the Tories who faced the most backlash in the video’s aftermath, after their social media team posted a screenshot of the presenter holding up her finger on X with the words: “Labour when you ask for their plans to tackle illegal migration.”

Never mind the bullocks

A bullock went viral when it was pulled from a sinkhole with “a couple of straps and a telehandler”.

The most miraculous thing about the whole incident – which was a bit like watching a blown-up version of a rabbit getting pulled from a hat – was that the animal walked away unharmed, as if nothing had ever happened.

The video of the bullock’s ordeal has been viewed 62 million times on Sky News’ platforms.

Right in the pie hole

The budget airline’s boss got a full face of dessert when a protester decided to throw two cream pies at him.

Michael O’Leary, to his credit, didn’t come across all pie and mighty (sorry) after the incident at a news conference, in which the female protester demanded he “stop the pollution of your planes”.

“It’s the first time environmentalists have given me cake,” he quipped.

Sir Keir Starmer gets glitter bombed

Unfortunately for Sir Keir Starmer, it wasn’t his vibrant personality and energy that lit up the Labour conference in October, according to some critics.

It was instead the glitter that had been sprinkled over his head by a protester who made his way on to the stage during the Labour leader’s speech.

The demonstrator shouted “true democracy is citizen-led, politics needs an update” – prompting boos and looks of concern from members of the audience.

Sir Keir managed to brush it off… figuratively. Literally speaking, large specks of glitter could still be seen on his white shirt and remained there for the duration of his keynote address.

‘X, formerly known as Twitter’

Yes; we’re as fed up of writing it as you are of reading it.

But we have to keep the line in for our one reader who may not know that the social media site was rebranded in July by its billionaire owner Elon Musk.

Perhaps next year, we’ll start referring to X (formerly Twitter!) as just X. Watch this space(X).

Musk and Zuckerberg almost had a fight

Elon Musk challenged Mark Zuckerberg to a cage fight – only for the Meta boss to unexpectedly agree to it.

The pair bickered back-and-fourth online for months, proving that you’re never too rich or famous to be an internet troll.

The idea ultimately fizzled out, though, with the social media moguls failing to even agree on a date for the potential bout.

Meta boss Zuckerberg has since told us that it’s time to “move on” from the saga.

Never, Mark. Never.

Gwyneth Paltrow and the ski accident

“Who caused the crash? Is somebody lying? What did she just say to him?”

These were the kinds of questions we had in March as we watched actress Gwyneth Paltrow defend herself in – and ultimately win – a bizarre civil court case against a man who claimed she crashed into him while skiing.

It took jurors all of two hours to reflect on eight days of evidence and conclude that optometrist Terry Sanderson was “100%” at fault for the skiing accident in 2016.

But viewers watching the final court broadcast were still left with questions as the Seven star leaned into Mr Sanderson and said something to him that wasn’t picked up by microphones.

Mr Sanderson claimed that she simply wished the 76-year-old well, but we’ll never truly know.

Perhaps the creators of a new play based on the court case (yes, that’s really a thing) will give their own interpretation of the exchange.

Altman’s out… wait, he’s back!

In a whirlwind few days for ChatGPT maker OpenAI, chief executive Sam Altman was ousted by his own board, only to be reinstated within a week.

Not being “consistently candid in his communications” was the charge laid at his feet by the board when the stunning decision was made mid-November.

But his alleged comms shortcomings were swiftly forgiven by the AI firm after its president and other staff members threatened to follow Altman out.

It was enough to see Altman hastily return as chief executive – with a new board installed.

Education secretary complains ‘everyone else has sat on their arses’

The education secretary was caught complaining about not being thanked for doing a “f****** good job” over the unsafe concrete crisis.

After an interview with ITV News in Westminster, Gillian Keegan criticised others for being “sat on their arses” and claimed the government had gone “over and above” in addressing concerns relating to reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).

While her mic was still on, she said: “Does anyone ever say ‘You know you’ve done a f****** good job because everyone else has sat on their arses and done nothing’?

“No signs of that, no?”

Ms Keegan later apologised and admitted she was “frustrated with the interviewer” who was “making out it was all my fault”.

If we’re grateful for anything, it’s that the rant was caught on mic.

James Cleverly: ‘I said s***, not s***hole!’

Are you sensing a theme here?

When Commons microphones picked up some foul language during Prime Minister’s Questions in November, Home Secretary James Cleverly was forced to issue an apology.

It was him, he admitted, who could be heard using the S word following a question from Labour Stockton North MP Alex Cunningham regarding child poverty in the northern town.

Mr Cunningham accused Suella Braverman’s successor of describing Stockton-on-Tees as a “s***hole” in the remark, but Mr Cleverly was adamant that he “would never” insult the town.

Insult its MP, though? Well, that’s another story.

A source close to the home secretary admitted the minister had used “unparliamentary language” – though added it wasn’t directed at the town.

The source told Sky News: “James made a comment. He called Alex Cunningham a s*** MP. He apologises for unparliamentary language.”

Activists climb on to prime minister’s roof

Environmental activists decided to force Rishi Sunak into action by sitting on his roof with “no new oil” banners while he was on holiday with his family in California.

The Greenpeace five were later bailed by North Yorkshire Police after scaling the Yorkshire manor and draping it in a black-oil fabric.

Number 10 stood by its policy in the wake of the controversy, saying drilling for more oil will boost energy security and reduce bills for consumers.

While the outing seemingly had little impact on the government’s policies, the protesters can say they spent an entire August morning on the prime minister’s house.

Cockroach steals the show at Met Gala

A cockroach became an overnight sensation when it attended the prestigious Met Gala in New York.

The insect initially evaded a photographer’s best efforts to kill it, but people on social media were forced to mourn after fate eventually caught up with the roach.

The Pope’s wearing a puffer?

All of us – even the biggest advocates for technological advancement – have probably seen things in AI’s rapid rise this year that have raised concerns.

Now even the Pope himself has spoken out, saying there needs to be regulation to tackle the disinformation, discrimination and distortion that AI can contribute to.

What were these incredibly strong words brought on by?

Quite possibly by an AI-generated image of the pontiff wearing a rather stylish, oversized coat.

Michael Owen’s apple throwing antics

A teenage World Cup star and a Ballon d’Or winner aged 22 – but how did England striker Michael Owen achieve such astounding heights?

Well, it all stemmed from throwing apple cores into bins.

Owen became an internet meme – and not for the first time – when he went on a podcast and explained how “everything was a challenge” to him growing up.

“You know I would eat an apple while watching the TV at night,” he said on Upfront With Simon Jordan.

“The bin would be by the TV, six metres away or whatever. I would just do it. I had the bravery to miss and for there to be a stain on the wallpaper and my mum to absolutely scream at me and send me upstairs.”

Luckily the striker’s pinpoint finishing translated to apple throwing as he told of his pride that his mother never got to shout at him for staining the walls – because he simply never missed. He said it earned him the respect that he craved from his father.

Never change, Michael.

2023, it’s been a blast. What will 2024 bring? If this year’s taught us anything, it’s that there’s no point in making predictions.