BBC Breakfast viewers were left worried when the hosts ‘lost communication’ with a star who was abseiling down a 170-metre tall tower in a risky stunt.

During Friday’s installment of the show, reporter John Maguire celebrated the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Spinnaker Tower by abseiling down its sheer face.

The Portsmouth building is 170 metres tall, and operates as an observation point- offering expansive 23-mile views.

Hosts Naga Munchetty, 50, and Charlie Stayt, 63, chatted to John and updated viewers on his progress throughout.

However John, who was the 50,000th person to abseil the tower, couldn’t quite conceal his fear as he anticipated the worrying drop below him.

Maintaining composure, he spoke steadily to the camera: ‘I feel as if I’m in extremely safe hands, strapped in.

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BBC Breakfast viewers were left worried when the hosts Naga Munchetty, 50, and Charlie Stayt, 63, ‘lost communication’ with a star abseiling down a 170-metre tall tower

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During Friday’s installment of the show, reporter John Maguire celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Spinnaker Tower by abseiling down its sheer face

‘100 metres down we are, the tower itself, Spinnaker Tower, is 170 metres high. That’s pretty high, isn’t it?’ he shared.

‘You get the most extraordinary view, there’s a warship just coming in just below me there.

‘I must say, it is rather disconcerting. The one thing I haven’t done so far is I haven’t been brave or dark enough to look down, other than looking down from the top.

‘Well, what a wonderful thing to be doing on a Friday morning.’

As John continued his descent, the microphone connecting him to the studio cut out, and Naga and Charlie hastily interrupted with an update amid fears for the star.

‘Well, I’m delighted, John, that it’s not too windy for you. We have a shot of you on the Spinnaker Tower, he looks like a bug,’ Naga said.

Charlie chimed in to soothe concerned watchers, saying: ‘The way this has worked is we’ve lost communication with John. We can still hear him talking, but we can’t speak to him.

‘We were told sort of two-thirds of the way down that we’d lose communication with him, but you can see him gradually moving his way down and talking at the same time, very impressive.’

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But as John continued his descent (pictured), the microphone connecting him to the studio cut out, and Naga and Charlie hastily interrupted with an update

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Host Charlie explained that they had lost communication with John when he was about two-thirds of the way down

Watchers at home waited with baited breath, fearing something could have gone wrong in John’s descent.

But their worries were soon quelled when he reached the bottom minutes later, and said of his experience: ‘It was exhilarating and a little bit terrifying… I had my eyes closed most of the way down.’

Showing his shaking hands to the camera, he joked: ‘The lift only takes 30 seconds, I should have done that.’

Matt Taylor, who accompanied brave John and was delivering live weather updates, praised the thrill-seeker, saying: ‘To be fair John, you took that very well. Very, very brave.

‘I’ve been looking from down here and that platform looks a bit shaky to me.’

Viewers rushed to social media to express their concern for John, with one writing: ‘Sod that.’

Another said: ‘This is some live Noel Edmunds disaster s***,’ while a third added: ‘John Maguire abseils down Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth. It’s official! BBC Breakfast is going 10 per cent Blue Peter.’