An actress declared Braintree to be a “weird name for a team” during a live television interview.

Emily Atack, best known for her role in teen comedy series The Inbetweeners, made the comments during an appearance on Sky Sports’ Soccer AM show on Saturday morning.

The 24-year-old, from Luton, was speaking hours before her hometown team played against Braintree Town in a Conference Premier match.

When asked about her team’s chances, she said: “They’re playing against Braintree aren’t they? That is a weird name for a team.”

When amused presenters Helen Chamberlain and Max Rushden informed the actress, who appeared as a contestant in Dancing on Ice in 2010, that the team was named after a town, she reacted with surprise, saying: “Is it? I’ve never heard of that place.”

The origins of the town’s name are believed to come from the Celtic lord who ruled the area before the arrival of the Romans.

Local historian Mike Bardell said: “It comes from ‘Branoc’s tree’, which would have been the place he would have called people when he wanted to discuss how to fight, dispense justice or do the business of government."