British baroness picks up 22-year-old man thinking he was a child

She bent over to pick him up for a cuddle and selfie.
 By 
Alicia Tan
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Lingerie tycoon and socialite Michelle Mone, the U.K.'s Baroness of Mayfair, was left red-faced on Sunday when she mistook a Vietnamese man for a child and picked him up to pose for a photo.

The founder of British lingerie brand Ultimo Brand International, was attending an entrepreneurs' conference in Vietnam when the awkward incident took place.

Mone had finished giving a speech to an audience of 3,000 people, when Nguyen Tan Phat approached the stage to present her with a bouquet of flowers.


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Because of his small stature, she thought he was a 6-year-old child and swept Nguyen off his feet for a cuddle and photo op.

According to several news outlets, a woman sitting in the front row, immediately reacted by demanding Mone put Nguyen down. The woman shouted: "Put him down -- I'm his wife!"

The crowd burst into laughter at Mone's boo boo. "The guy was fine with it and the whole room was screaming with laughter," Mone told The Daily Mail.

The sporting businesswoman who's nicknamed "Baroness Bra" by the British tabloids has since addressed the embarrassing incident on her Twitter account.

Nguyen was initially reported to be 46-years-old by Vietnamese media outlets but clarified on his Facebook account on Monday his real age and that he didn't have a wife.

He has not yet addressed comments on his diminutive stature.

Guess Mone has given new meaning to picking up men.

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Alicia Tan

Alicia Tan was an Asia Deputy Editor at Mashable. She has over 11 years of experience in journalism, magazine production and content publishing; specialising in women's lifestyle, fashion and beauty. When she's not writing, she's obsessing over Totoro, Ryan Gosling and online shopping.

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