‘I’m embarrassed’: Ch9 Aussie Open trainwreck hard to watch

Channel 9’s Australian Open coverage fell apart in a bizarre moment that one presenter is struggling to live down.

Even for Tony Jones, this was awkward.

The popular Channel 9 presenter has produced the most awkward moment of the Australian Open so far with a classic conversation breakdown live on Nine News.

The Footy Show host and former Aussie tennis star John Millman were doing a live cross from outside Rod Laver Arena at Melbourne Park on Thursday night when disaster struck.

It all fell apart after the pair had finished discussing the latest news from the Open and Jones spotted Millman’s bold fashion statement.

Jones’ cheeky shot at Millman’s double black ensemble backfired spectacularly when his reference of music icon Johnny Cash went over the head of everyone.

It went pear-shaped as soon as Jones extended his hand while pointing at Millman’s fancy threads in an apparent gesture to shake hands.

After a moment of awkwardness, Jones eventually told his colleague to shake his hand.

You can watch the awkward incident in the video player above.

Tony Jones: “Alright, good to see you mate. Now, you’re rocking a bit of the Johnny Cash. No, yeah, you can shake my hand. That’s embarrassing. You’re rocking a bit of the Johnny Cash here.”

John Millman: “Yeah, I thought I’d be rocking the moves.”

TJ: “Yeah, but you’ve got the man in black.”

JM: That’s a bit before my time TJ. I don’t know what you’re talking about.

TJ: Johnny Cash?

JM: Is that walk the... hold the fire line?

TJ: God I wish this was pre-recorded. No he’s Johnny Cash. I’ve got to talk to you. I’m going to throw back to you guys. I’ve got to talk to Molly Meldrum over here.”

Tony Jones and John Millman kill viewers. Photo: Channel 9.

Tony Jones and John Millman kill viewers. Photo: Channel 9.

Channel 9 host Alicia Loxley knew immediately the clip was going to start spreading across cyberspace.

“I think we might see this again on the coverage at some point,” she said on Nine.

“We’ll clip that up.”

Millman was not Jones’ only victim.

The 63-year-old also turned a flamethrower on American Danielle Collins after her fiery antics on Thursday night.

Collins knocked out Aussie Destanee Aiava from the tournament in front of a vocal local crowd and she rubbed it in their faces with an extraordinary post-match exhibition.

Jones, like many, slammed the veteran for her behaviour.

“My view is she’s a brat,” he said on 3AW Drive.

“When you get people like Danielle Collins who lives this (lavish) lifestyle and then rubs our noses in it. I thought it overstepped the mark.”

Collins was called much worse after she boasted about her wealth following the hostile reception from the Aussie fans.

Originally published as ‘I’m embarrassed’: Ch9 Aussie Open trainwreck hard to watch