Portsmouth landmark Spinnaker Tower apologises and offers refund to Copnor family over confusing gender reveal

Couple Chloe Brooks and Harry Day were joined by almost a hundred friends and family members at The Spice Island Inn in Old Portsmouth on Friday night to watch Spinnaker Tower reveal whether their baby will be a boy or girl.

More than 130,000 people have watched The News broadcast of the event, which saw the 560-foot landmark flash pink and blue – but the big reveal left the couple and many watching in the dark.

With the tower seeming to linger on blue illuminations, there was some initial celebration that a baby boy was on the way – which was Harry’s slight preference.

But the lighting then suddenly switched to pink, which remained for the rest of the evening.

Residents across the city took to Facebook to watch the broadcast and shared in the pair’s confusion.

One user said: ‘Watched the video so confusing, stayed blue for ages, so they’re all celebrating it’s a boy, then starts flashing again.’

Now the team at Spinnaker Tower have refunded the family’s £150 fee for the gender reveal and apologised to the family over the ‘terrible’ confusion, according to Chloe.

The mum-of-two said: ‘We called them to say have you seen what happened – surely that can’t be right, that’s not on.

‘It stayed blue for so long. I thought it was terrible, it was really, really bad.

‘People are making memes about it.

‘I messaged them the next day and they called me on the Sunday.

‘They really apologised.’

The family have also been offered a complimentary trip to the top of the tower, according to Chloe.

A spokesman from Spinnaker Tower said: ‘There was no glitch, nor mix up with our lighting system and they worked as they were supposed to.

‘In light of the concerns that were raised during this we’re now working closely with the creators of the lighting company to look into perhaps changing it for the future.’

Chloe said the experience was chaotic – but she would consider another gender reveal using the landmark.

The 33-year-old said: ‘I would – if they did it right.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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