The One Show hosts Alex Jones and Roman Kemp were left scrambling for a response after Hollywood star J.K. Simmons delivered a brutally honest answer during a live discussion about the World Cup.

The awkwardly funny moment unfolded during Tuesday’s edition of the BBC programme, which returned to screens after being bumped from the schedule the previous evening due to World Cup coverage.

With England preparing to face Ghana in their second Group L match in Boston, football fever was high in the studio. Alex and Roman had already welcomed a string of famous guests, including Hannah Waddingham, Octavia Spencer, J.K. Simmons and Tom Brittney, when the conversation turned to the tournament.

Hoping to draw the Oscar-winning actor into the football excitement, Roman asked whether the World Cup was giving him a buzz despite his well-known love of other sports.

The response nobody expected came instantly.

“No!” Simmons replied.

For a brief moment, the studio fell silent before Alex, Roman and the audience burst into laughter at the actor’s blunt honesty.

Roman quickly joked that he thought they had finally managed to convert him, but Simmons stood firm, explaining that he would feel like he was simply jumping on the bandwagon if he suddenly pretended to be invested in football because he happened to be in the UK during the World Cup.

Instead, the Whiplash star revealed his sporting loyalties remain firmly elsewhere. He explained that he regularly stays up to follow his beloved Detroit Tigers baseball team and insisted he will always consider himself a baseball fan first.

The admission prompted a playful response from Alex, who suggested everyone is entitled to their own sporting passions, while Roman admitted he could understand the feeling despite being a football fan himself.

Not letting the moment pass, Alex then jokingly told Simmons to “get out”, sparking another wave of laughter across the studio.

The appearance came as Simmons promoted his new drama series The Westies alongside co-star Tom Brittney.

Set in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen during the early 1980s, the series follows the notorious Irish-American crime gang whose grip on the neighbourhood is threatened by internal divisions, growing FBI attention and mounting tensions with the powerful Italian mafia families.

But despite discussing organised crime, gang wars and a gritty new drama, it was Simmons’ refreshingly direct take on football that ended up stealing the spotlight and leaving The One Show hosts momentarily speechless.