Justin Trudeau calls Gilles Duceppe 'my love' in French debate, tongue slip goes viral

A comedicslip of the tonguewhich sawLiberal Leader Justin Trudeauaccidently callBloc Qubcois leader Gilles Duceppe"mon amour"stolethe imaginationof the internetduringFriday'sFrench-language leaders' debate.

Trudeau meant to call the Bloc leader"my friend""mon ami"but ended up telling Duceppe that he was his love. The slip-up happened during sparring between the two leaders who weredebating anti-terrorism Bill C-51.

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Trudeau immediately caught his mistake, stammeredand laughed it off,but the internet was quick to jump on the error.

It was only a short time before #monamour was trending across the country

Initially,Duceppe seemed a little stunned by the slip-up

The unique split-screen format of the debate allowed viewers to see Duceppe'simmediatereaction to Trudeau's words. Many chose to capture the momentthrough the magic of a screen shot and share it widelyon social media.

It prompted some users to dream up a love story between the two leaders

There were jokes, fresh takes on playground songs andeven some hastily made fan art chronicling the exchange.

At least one user was convinced that Trudeau's 'love' went beyond Duceppe...

... while others thought the slip-up worked in the Liberal leader's favour

At the debate's end, Trudeau even took to Twitterto squash any rumours

He cheekily referenced the incident,tellinghis wifeSophie Grgoire-Trudeau not to worry and thatshe is his love.

It wasn't the only slip-up of the night,withDuceppemistakingcentral banker MarkCarney for dead actor Art Carney

Earlier in the evening, the mix-up roles were reversed.

It wasTrudeauwhocorrectedDuceppe after he kept referring to Mark Carney, the former governor of the bank of Canada,now governor of the Bank of England, as Art Carney, the deceased American actor famous for his role as Ed Norton onThe Honeymooners.

That mess-upalsogot Twitter thinking wishfully.

One TV host combined the two, summing up allthe debate gaffes in oneTwitter photo