LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was briefly left lost for words on Monday when he appeared to lose his place in notes during a speech before regaling business leaders with an anecdote about his recent visit to a Peppa Pig theme park.
Searching through his notes, Johnson sighed, said “blast it” and repeatedly muttered “forgive me” as he briefly interrupted his speech to the Confederation of British Industry in Port of Tyne in northern England.
He recovered, though, talking about technology unicorns and then a visit to Peppa Pig World, a park based on the children’s animated TV show about an exuberant pink pig and her friends and family.
“Yesterday I went, as we all must, to Peppa Pig World,” Johnson told the business executives. “I love it. Peppa Pig World is very much my kind of place: it has very safe streets, discipline in schools.”
“Who would have believed that a pig that looks like a hairdryer or possibly a Picasso-like hairdryer, a pig that was rejected by the BBC, would now be exported to 180 countries with theme parks both in America and China?” —Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Alistair Smout and Michael Holden
