Programmes - BBC Food

Saturday Kitchen star Poppy O’Toole went viral after making an awkward blunder on the TV show. The chef, who grew to fame on TikTok, landed a gig on the popular ITV show which sees her whip up a dish on Saturday mornings with Matt Tebbutt, but she thought she was going to lose the gig after making a mistake.

Speaking to Express.co.uk as she released her latest “Poppy Cooks” cookbook, she said: “I was naive, but it was one of the funniest things. I was trying to say on a whim, but I just couldn’t get there, so I accidentally said quim.” Quim is considered a vulgar slang word.

Poppy continued: “I learned my lesson, but I had never heard of the word. I could see Matt’s face and I could tell that someone was talking in his ear and I was like, ‘something has happened’.”

Matt then issued an on-air apology, but couldn’t explain to Poppy what she had done until the break.

'This Morning' TV show, London, UK - 06 Jun 2025

Poppy O’Toole made a big mistake on the show (Image: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)

She said: “I was thinking, ‘Oh my God, what have I done?’ I was thinking that I was going to get cancelled. I was going through everything I had said because I didn’t know.”

When the segment finally went to the ad break, Poppy said Matt and the others on set couldn’t stop laughing while Poppy was desperately asking what she had done wrong.

The producer rushed down to her and reassured her everything was okay, telling her she had said a “really old vulgar word”. Luckily, bosses could see that she was none the wiser.

But as the clip went viral, Poppy said she just had to own it.

 

Poppy ended up sharing the clip to her feed on TikTok and laughed at herself, which gathered a lot of support from her fans who thought it was hilarious.

She kicked off her career in TikTok after working in a kitchen for years and has taken on a very different schedule since, but she’s still busy as ever. Alongside what she has referred to as a 24/7 job, she’s also released multiple cookbooks, including The Potato Book which is in line with her “potato queen” persona.

Her latest cookbook, The Actually Delicious One Pot, is available to purchase now.