A resurfaced clip of storming out of a trainwreck television interview 13 years ago has gone viral.
The Duchess of York was being quizzed over the by Australian Michael Usher for 60 Minutes in 2011 when she walked out of the interview.
Fergie was secretly filmed offering an undercover reporter posing as a businessman access to for £500,000. She can be heard in the footage saying: “Five hundred thousand pounds when you can, to me, open doors.”
Michael asks the Duchess in the recently resurfaced interview: “Did you take the money? At one point you had $4,000 cash sitting in front of you. Did you take that?”
To which the Duchess replies: “Absolutely, yes. It was given to me and I got it in the car and then returned it straightaway.”
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. Read our Privacy Policy
Sarah Ferguson walks out of the interview after she is asked about the cash for access scandal (Image: 60 Minutes)
Mr Usher then says: “Once the scandal broke?” To which Fergie, looking peeved, answers: “As soon as I knew it was a scandal, not once it broke Michael. Don’t try and trick me now because I am not going to play this game. Delete that bit. I don’t to go down this route.”
The Duchess then turns to her Australian agent, John Scott, and she tells him that she doesn’t wish to carry on with the line of questioning. Urged to continue the interview, Sarah says: “Okay, thanks. Moving on to the next question.”
Asked if the scandal helped her to “review her life”, the Duchess answers: “I was very grateful for being in that position in a way, because when I hit rock bottom it woke me up.”
She then looks off camera at her agent again and says: “Remember, remember, Cindy, yeah… I am going to take five minutes.”
The Duchess then abruptly exits the interview, before coming back later, albeit with a wariness of her interviewer.
Don’t miss… [REPORT] [REVEALED]
Sarah Ferguson temporarily walked out of a trainwreck interview (Image: Getty)
At the time the cash for access scandal broke, , adding .
Fergie added in a statement: “However, that is no excuse for a serious lapse in judgement and I am very sorry that this has happened.”
The Duchess later , the publisher of the News of the World, whose undercover reporter, Mazher Mahmood, was jailed for dishonesty in October 2016.
Sarah’s legal claim, as reported by the Mail on Sunday, alleged the story caused her “serious embarrassment, humiliation, distress and reputational damage”.
She claimed the now defunct newspaper invaded her privacy and “used deceit” to persuade her to make “unguarded” statements which were to her “detriment”. The Duchess discontinued the claims against News UK in April 2019.
Sarah Ferguson’s Australian agent says she was shocked at having to watch the undercover recording (Image: Getty)
Mr Usher’s interview with Fergie was brought up during an interview on Nova 96.9’s Fitzy & Wippa with Kate Ritchie on Thursday.
He told the radio show the awkward moment was “crazy” but the Duchess returned and continued with the interview.
Mr Scott claimed at the time that the footage was taken out of context and demanded the network delete scenes.
He told Sydney’s Daily Telegraph newspaper they had gone through all the questions the camera started rolling, and the Duchess walked out when she was “ambushed”.
Fergie’s Australian agent explained she was shocked when asked to watch the footage again in the interview, claiming it was entrapment, which Mr Usher has denied.