This Morning viewers were left wondering just what was happening during an unexpected karaoke segment on Wednesday morning.

Hosts Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary were joined by Tom Swarbrick and Camilla Tominey for a chat about the nation’s favourite karaoke songs. Dermot gave a quick rendition of Bon Jovi classic Livin’ On A Prayer, whilst Camillla struggled through I Wanna Dance With Somebody by Whitney Houston.

Alison had got up to perform River Deep Mountain High, but it appeared to have been the wrong song as she sat back down and Dermot exclaimed: “God knows what is going to happen now!” Things took an even more surprising turn when all four hosts took it upon themselves to perform Mr. Brightside by The Killers, during which Dermot stormed across the studio and jumped onto the sofa.

Next up, Tom performed How You Remind Me by Nickelback before Alison noted they had ‘run out of time’ for any more as she sent the show to an ad break. But the bizarre segment did not go down entirely well with viewers, who took to social media to give their opinion. One viewer wrote simply claimed they had ‘died from cringe’ after watching the karaoke session, and another wondered: “What am I watching here?”

Hosts Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary were joined by Tom Swarbrick and Camilla Tominey for a chat about the nation’s favourite karaoke songs when things took an unexpected turn

A third social media user demanded: “What have we done to endure this punishment!” and another said: “What the actual f***am i watching? god oh almighty”, whilst another pleaded with the broadcaster to “make it stop”. One viewer compared the segment to “bad X Factor auditions”, and took particular aim at Dermot, who hosted the talent show during its height in the late 2000s.

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They wrote: “That was a performance worthy of an X Factor 2010 YouTube compilation of bad auditions”, whilst another quipped: “What a bad day to have ears”. Another claimed: “Dermot is forgetting he is on TV!” But it wasn’t all bad, as one viewer found the fun in the light-hearted segment, and they wrote: “Dermot and Allison are so unserious on #ThisMorning I love it, they treat it like a day out!”

Dermot O’Leary decided to jump on the sofa during his karaoke slot

Moments later, when Coronation Street actress and West End star Jodie Prenger was preparing to go behind the scenes of London’s new musical Hercules, Dermot joked: “God, we could have done with them during karaoke,” whilst Alison noted what a ‘beautiful’ voice the soap star has.

The whole item came off the back of a study that revealed the greatest singalong songs of all time. Put together by Oxford professor Dr Tom Crawford, the custom formula factored in how fast the beat was, number of verses, chorus repeats and even the release date of the song.

“My research showed a preference for a faster pace, with an average beats per minute of 126, as well as a ratio of three chorus repetitions for every two verses,” he said. “This fits with the standard structure of most pop songs – hence why you’ll see your favourites scoring highly!”

Livin’ On A Prayer took top spot with a score of 91 out of a possible 100, closely followed by Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance with Somebody (90). In third place was Oasis’ iconic Don’t Look Back In Anger (89). Dr Crawford devised his formula using research from a poll of 2,000 karaoke lovers, commissioned by mobile giant Three and suicide prevention charity Samaritans.

The study found 90 per cent of people feel happier after a sing-along, with 81 per cent getting an emotional uplift and 70 per cent finding it therapeutic. And the research also identified the best year for karaoke gold. “With ABBA dominating the 70s, through to Adele in the 2010s, the average release year of a karaoke classic is 1995,” Dr Crawford said. “This captures the boyband craze, as well as Brit pop with Oasis, and girl power in the form of the Spice Girls, showing there’s some serious maths behind a killer karaoke belter!”

Three and Samaritans are running the Kathartic Karaoke initiative to support people with their mental health There will be a special booth at the Latitude Festival in Suffolk (July 24 to 27) and The Mound at Edinburgh Fringe (August 15 and 16).

Nicki Lyons, Chief Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Officer at VodafoneThree, said: “As the Official Connectivity Partner of some of the UK’s biggest festivals this summer, we understand the power and importance of making connections that matter, whether it’s through technology or shared experiences like music. We are delighted to be partnering with Samaritans for the first time at music festivals, to create joyful spaces for people to connect to one another and experience our ‘Kathartic Karaoke’ for themselves.”