General election: What it’s like hosting a debate

As with any live broadcast, you have to be ready to expect the unexpected, as has happened many times in previous debates.

Ahead of Brexit, an audience member charged out of the crowd during one debate, heading toward the politicians brandishing some sort of object in his hands.

At the time, I remember thinking – is it a gun, a knife – it turned out to be a rolled up EU flag. But security is much tighter these days.

In another debate, one that was getting quite heated at the time, I looked up at the audience and there was one woman in the back, smiling broadly, and knitting.

That’s why I love live audiences, you never know what to expect. I asked her after the show what she was knitting – it was a horse.