Jacinda Ardern interrupted by daughter Neve during livestream that coincided with bedtime

The New Zealand prime minister has been interrupted by a persistent heckler: her three-year-old daughter, who had “escaped” and was up past her bedtime while Jacinda Ardern was trying to give a live update on the country’s Covid response.

The prime minister was conducting a livestream about shifting public health restrictions when she was interrupted by an apparently wide awake Neve.

Midway through discussing increased certainty for businesses under a new Covid-framework, Ardern was distracted by something happening out-of-shot, and a faint voice could be heard off-screen asking: “Mummy?”.

“You’re meant to be in bed,” the prime minister replied. “It’s bedtime darling – pop back to bed and I’ll come and see you in a second.”

“Sorry everybody,” Ardern says, on return to the livestream. “That was a bed-time fail wasn’t it?” She said that her mother was present that evening, and would be assisting her daughter to bed.

Undeterred, Neve re-appeared later in the evening broadcast, forcing the prime minister to conclude: “I’m sorry darling, it is taking so long.” The prime minister told viewers she would end the livestream there.

The experience will be relatable for many parents who have spent chunks of the past year in lockdowns or working from home.

As Covid has forced more public figures to conduct zoom interviews and at-home live streams, there has been a corresponding increase in incidents where those broadcasts are interrupted by the realities of domestic life.

The most famous was the “BBC dad” whose interview was interrupted by a parade of marauding children.

Earlier this year, a New Zealand cabinet minister had her live TV interview was interrupted by her son, who entered the room excitedly brandishing a phallic carrot.