F1 pundit reveals how she accidentally used the 'c-word' in an interview with Fernando Alonso

Sky Sports reporter Natalie Pinkham shared a hilarious story of accidentally saying the 'c-word' in an attempt to speak Spanish with Fernando Alonso. The Brit shared how the Spaniard corrected her and then remembered the comical moment for a long time.

Natalie Pinkham has been covering F1 since 2011. She recently went on The Red Flags Podcast on Youtube, where she was sharing moments from the start of her career. She shared a story of being scared by Michael Schumacher, who was the first interview of her career.

After this, the 47-year-old shared a hilarious story of an interaction with Fernando Alonso in the early days of her career. She shared how she wanted to break the ice with the Spaniard and decided to ask him a question in Spanish. This turned out to be a horrible decision because Pinkham ended up accidentally swearing at the two-time world champion.

Pinkham explained how this misunderstanding occured, while appearing on the aforementioned podcast on Monday.

"You might have seen or read or heard about this interview, but I actually dropped the c-bomb in my interview with Fernando Alonso. I thought I could, or should, speak Spanish to him. Because I studied Spanish in school and thought, 'that might be a nice way to break the ice'." Pinkham explained, on "The Red Flags Podcast."

"I wanted to say, 'how about an interview with me?' in Spanish. Now, 'with' is 'con' and 'me' is 'yo' [in spanish]. The nuance of the language is you have to say 'conmigo', not 'c*no', because 'c*no', I'm sorry for swearing, means the c-word."

"So I said; 'una entrevista c*no?' [an interview c*nt?], and he said, 'I don't think you mean to say this, Natalie. But it is very nice that you tried to speak in Spanish," she added.

Pinkham also shared how she is still embarrassed by this moment and that Fernando Alonso hilariously still reminded her of this interaction between the pair for many years after it happened.

The British reporter also shared her admiration for the 43-year-old, and waxed lyrical about his personality while speaking on the podcast.

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Fernando Alonso had a greater appreciation for the media after returning to F1, claims Natalie Pinkham

Fernando Alonso at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, 2024 - Source: Getty

Natalie Pinkham has shared that Fernando Alonso told her that he had a greater understanding and appreciation of the media after he returned to the F1 grid in 2021. The Spaniard left the sport in 2018 and competed in IndyCar and multiple other series.

According to the Briton, upon his return, Alonso told her and her colleagues that he understands the media's job more now than he did before. She said:

"When he went away, and then came back to the sport, he actually said to me and a number of my colleagues, 'do you know what, I do understand now what you're doing.'"

"The last thing we want to do is shove a microphone under someone's nose and stress them out. But he had a greater appreciation of the bigger picture once he left and then returned. He was a different person when he came back, he was much more relaxed," Pinkham added.

Pinkham also expressed that she wishes Fernando Alonso continues racing in F1 for a long time. She explained how she feels it is fantastic that new talent is being given a chance in the sport, but 'The King of Spain' should stay on the grid as well.