Janet Street Porter giggles as she apologises live on air after saying her dog Badger rubbed his private parts all over her socks

Janet Street Porter apologised to viewers on Wednesday's Loose Women after saying her dog Badger rubbed his private parts 'all over my socks'.   

The television personality, 73, who was presenting the show from home, while Christine Lampard, Saira Khan and Linda Robson were in the studio, giggled as she realised what she had said.  

The panel were having a debate about if pets come into your life for a reason when Janet said: 'The other night he got up on the bed and I noticed he very cleverly rubbed his b***s all over my socks'.

As the panel gasped, Janet quickly tried to cover up her tracks: 'Sorry about that, viewers.'

Talking about her bond with her dog, the columnist added: 'At the moment he is in love with a new squeaky ball he takes everywhere. 

'This ball, I'm trying to watch television and it squeaks and squeaks and I can't get it out of his mouth. 

'The only way I can get it out of his mouth is open the fridge door because dogs have inexplicable fears that come from nowhere.

'One day I opened the fridge door and there must have been some bottles in it - lockdown, obviously that figures - and it clung, and since then, he thinks the fridge door is the worst thing, it's worse than any lightning. 

'So if I want to get the ball off him and watch something in peace I just shut the fridge door a few times. But I adore him, I'm not quite as soppy as Saira'. 

The discussion was sparked by the death of a street cat called Bob who helped transform a heroin addict into a best-selling author has died.

Bob, the protagonist of James Bowen's memoirs A Street Cat Named Bob, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 14.

Hodder & Stoughton, who published the bestseller in 2012, confirmed the feline's death in a heartfelt statement.

Saira said her dog Vera 'changed my life. She said: 'That little puppy. I miss her already. She's changed my life. She's made me a better person. 

'I thought my kids had made me a better person but actually Vera really has'. 

Janet previously wrote about how much she loved her Border Terrier, Badger, in her column for the Daily Mail. 

She said: My partner Peter bought Badger as a puppy without bothering to discuss it with me. The dog wasn’t trained and initially lived in a box.

'He boasted an impressive pedigree going back five generations, but didn’t seem to have inherited any manners from his distinguished forebears — who included Manor Lady, Brockley of Otterland, Dandyhow Bedazzled and Little Miss Perfect.

'How on earth do dog breeders come up with these names? Our dog’s birth name was Little Biscuit, but within a week he’d been renamed Badger.

'Our relationship has gone through a steep learning curve, with more give and take on my side than the dog’s.'