British passport online - referee's passport expired

Hi, regarding to the subject above, my referee's passport is expired and he cannot confirm my identity online for my first adult british passport. When he types expired date online it is showing in red and it doesn't let him go further to confirm my identity. Can I do it in paper form instead with my referee or he has to renew his passport and then I can continue with my application? Will my application be expired then as he need to wait for his new passport up to 3 weeks...what should I do, why always problems

Passport application counter signatory must have a current valid passport as per rules. So even if you applied via paper form with such a referee it may be delayed and you would have to provide a referee who fulfils the requirement eventually.
I don’t think ur application will “expire” in the mean time.
You can either find a new referee or wait for ur current referee to renew his/her passport. A renewal takes only a week.

Thank you for the response.