Amanda Holden made a huge blunder on This Morning when she asked Major Tim Peake about visiting the moon. The TV presenter, who is standing in for Holly Willoughby this week, asked the astronaut if he "took a piece of the moon back" with him after his space expedition. However, Major Peake never actually went to the moon. The last person to visit was Eugene Cernan in 1972.
"A question that I would like to ask, and I don't know whether you'd be allowed to answer it really. It might be a naughty thing," said Amanda. "When you went to the moon, did you take a piece of the moon and bring it back home with you? Are you allowed to?" Major Peake, 45, politely replied: "So, I wasn't on the moon. I was in the space station."
© Photo: Rex"Did you take a piece of the moon and bring it back home with you?" asked Amanda
"So, you never got off and there was nothing floating about that you could steal?" Amanda pressed, to which Major Peake replied: "No, but again there was a brilliant question from a young lad who said, 'Did you bring back any souvenirs from the space station?' I thought what a wonderful idea, as if we go up there and bring back something. No, everything is very strictly controlled." Laughing, Amanda continued: "Or nick something, like you do at work. Nick a roll of Sellotape."
Viewers at home were quick to pick up on the blunder, with one tweeting: "Just found out Amanda Holden asked Tim Peake if he brought any rock back when he stopped off at the Moon. This has made my day." Another posted: "Did Amanda Holden REALLY just ask Tim Peake if he brought a piece of the Moon back? What planet has she been on? #researchfail."
© Photo: Rex"So, I wasn't on the moon. I was in the space station," said Major Peake
Major Peake spent six months in space, from December 2015 to June 2016. He was honoured in the Queen's 2016 Birthday Honours and was on the International Space Station when he found out he would become a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George for services to space research and scientific education. Major Peake will return to the International Space Station for a second mission with the European Space Agency. A mission date has not yet been revealed, although it's likely it will happen between 2019 and 2024.
