Peter Crouch shocks ITV viewers with comment about wife Abbey Clancy during live Cheltenham broadcast

Peter Crouch shocked viewers with what he said during a guest appearance on ITV's coverage of the Cheltenham Festival.

The former Liverpool and England striker, who is a known horse racing fan, was present at Cheltenham to take in the action on day two of the Festival.

He was in position to watch the Rachael Blackmore-ridden Air of Entitlement secure victory in the opening Novices' Hurdle at 13:20.

But before the race got underway, Crouch made a live appearance in the ITV booth to chat to presenter Oli Bell - who presumably wouldn't have expected how his guest responded to one of his first questions.

Bell asked Crouch whether he had ever ridden a horse, to which the former striker replied: "Yes. I've been on a few horses, yeah. Abbey [Clancy, his wife] likes to ride..."

He then quickly added: "Horses."

Both men then tried to compose themselves to finish the segment but burst out into laughter, with Crouch throwing in: "I've been thrown off a couple of times!"

Bell replied: "Okay, well we'll leave it at that!"

In response to the clip, which ITV posted on Twitter, one viewer wrote: "Crouchy is absolutely hilarious."

A second said: "Cheers for that Crouchy."

A third added: "Peter Crouch is a national treasure."

Crouch married model Clancy in 2011 and the pair have four children.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror earlier this month about married life with the former Liverpool and Portsmouth striker, Clancy explained: "When we look back at our wedding day, some of the choices we've made, some things we've done in the past, we're like, 'Bloody hell, who were we then?'

"But today, we're still in sync, we've got the same interests and the same things that make us laugh. It's a really happy time for us at the moment."

We wonder what she will think about Crouch's choice of words at Cheltenham...