Teen dad misspells 'father' on TV

LONDON, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- A British 18-year-old with three children has drawn ridicule after he failed a TV personality's challenge to spell the word "father."

Ben Smith, 18, said on ITV1's "The Jeremy Kyle Show" that he has fathered children with three girls, ages 16 and 17, and was brought on the program to determine the paternity of a fourth pregnant teenager's child, The Daily Telegraph reported Tuesday.

Smith, who was found not to be the father of the fourth child, was challenged by host Jeremy Kyle to spell the word "father" after the show's anchor accused the young father of irresponsibility.

Smith's response to the challenge, "F-a-r-t-h-e-r," drew mocking laughter from the audience, but the teenager was apparently unaware of his spelling mistake, viewers said.

"The entire audience were in stitches as Ben didn't know he had made a basic spelling mistake," one viewer told the Daily Star. "It wouldn't surprise me if the stud he had through his eyebrow was actually an earring he had put in the wrong place by accident."