BBC star misses show after being hospitalised following ‘horrific’ accident

A BBC presenter was hospitalized after having a “terrible” accident at home.

Stephen Nolan missed his breakfast show on BBC Radio Ulster on Thursday and Chris Buckler had to step in. The presenter announced that 50-year-old Stephen had been admitted to hospital and spent six hours in the emergency department.

On the radio show, Stephen said over a phone line to his station: “I was trying to move 10 boxes of tiles. I didn’t realise how heavy the tiles were, so they all landed on my big toe.”

Trying to keep a light tone, Chris joked, “There is a certain reluctance among your team this morning to believe any of this…

“Because they don’t believe for a second that they are actually doing something like physical manual labor.

“Basically, you employ people to move things… so what did you do? Did you run out of men?”

Stephen revealed further details about the incident and revealed that a small “piece of bone” had broken off.

The presenter then praised the hospital staff who helped him, saying: “The staff were fantastic, thank you to all the staff at Ulster Hospital. It was awful, it really was.”

Stephen shared a gruesome picture of his injuries with his followers on X.

“Today was not a good day,” he posted. “A huge stack of unlaid floor tiles were sitting upright in boxes – I underestimated their weight and pulled them towards me to open a drawer they were leaning against.”

“They landed on my foot when I hit the ground. That doesn’t look good and my big toe is swelling up!”

One fan sent his best wishes, writing: “That sounds painful, hope you’re ok (and the tiles aren’t broken!).”

Another commented: “Hope you didn’t break anything!” And a third added: “There’s always someone who has a worse day.”

Someone else said: “How painful this looks! I hope it won’t affect your broadcast of the Nolan Show.”

Stephen Nolan was reportedly the BBC’s fifth highest-paid broadcaster in 2023, ahead of other famous faces such as Question Time presenter Fiona Bruce and BBC News presenter Sophie Raworth.

Last year he earned a whopping £400,000. Gary Lineker, Zoe Ball, Alan Shearer and Huw Edwards are the only presenters who earn more than him.