Waleed Aly has proven once again that he’s one of the most relatable guys on TV with his reaction to music icon Mariah Cary getting his name wrong.
The Project host chatted with the Always Be My Baby hitmaker on Monday night, talking all things Christmas as her timeless holiday song All I Want For Christmas returns for another year.
Sitting in the studio, Waleed connected with Mariah via video link who in front of a festive backdrop and surrounded by Christmas decorations.
It seemed like the perfect setup for a smooth interview, until Mariah smiled and said “Hi Maleed!”
Waleed simply gave an awkward look to the camera.
(The Project)
So what do you do when a five-time Grammy award-winning artist gets your name wrong on national TV?
Well, Waleed simply gave an awkward look to the camera (a la The Office), shrugged, and got on with the interview.
He and Mariah chatted about her upcoming Christmas special, her own difficult holidays growing up and her Christmas hit song that comes back around every single year.
“I grew up not having great Christmases and wanting that thing you see on TV where everybody’s happy and everything is beautiful,” the 52-year-old said.
“But I had a very dysfunctional family and a lot of issues about myself.
“After I wrote All I Want For Christmas Is You, very early on in my career, I started every year being able to create what I want to do for the holidays.”
Waleed never mentioned the name mix-up during the interview, but back at The Project desk his co-hosts picked up on it pretty quickly.
Carrie Bickmore joked: “Maleed … that’s pretty cool, from Mariah. You’ll take Maleed from Mariah.”
Meanwhile, Tommy Little insisted “you’ve now got to change your name” to match the one the songstress mistakenly called him by.
Over on social media, fans had a field day with the awkward moment, commenting “Maleed” on clips of the moment posted to The Project’s social accounts.
One even joked that Mariah was sending Waleed a “signal” with the name, which sounded like a mash-up of Mariah and Waleed, similar to celebrity couple nicknames like “Bennifer”.
The songstress is currently dating choreographer Bryan Tanaka, so we’re guessing she isn’t looking for a new romance with Waleed.
The songstress is currently dating choreographer Bryan Tanaka.
(Getty)The Project host is also spoken for; he’s been married to wife Susan Carland since 2002, though they’ve been together for much longer than their 19 years of marriage.
The pair met when they were teens and when Waleed first voiced his feelings for Susan, she told him “I wouldn’t marry you if you were the last person on earth.”
But she later ate her words, because the two eventually went on a date, fell in love and the rest is history.
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