[Nobby]

To add to the list of celebrities being on regular editions of TV shows

Bill Buckley (That's Life, Channel 5 continuity announcer) was on normal guy Come Dine with Me. I can't remember if they mentioned that he was TV and radio star Bill Buckley or not.

Sally 'Jaxs' Jacks (Bid TV, Ideal World) was on regular Come Dine with Me, while she shown using a kitchen product, CDWM added shopping TV style graphics.

Nigel May (Avago, Create and Craft) was on civilian Pointless, they did mention that he was THE Nigel May.

Ella Jolie (Babestation) was on Party Wars, the non-celebrity reality show about party planning on Living TV. I don't know how she was billed.

For years I thought Theresa May (Prime Minister's Question Time) was on Beadle's About, speaking and singing to an alien which crashed in her garden but I just checked, it wasn't her.

I'm sure there must be examples of people becoming famous between recording and broadcast but I can't think of any off the top of my head apart from some guy who was on Space Cadets and then showed up on an advertising campaign about giving blood that launched during the run. The advert, and the fact it led some people to call the programme fake because one contestant was an actor, was mentioned during his exit interview.

That's probably a worse case for producers as it highlights how old the programme is if Luke Littler suddenly appears on a new episode of Junior MasterChef and they don't mention that he is keen on darts.

[XIII]

I think too with the more intelligent gameshows there is a small pool of contestants who want the challenge of doing them all, probably doing it more for the quizzing than the prize money.


Celebrity is a funny thing though and different to all people - Leo Reich has been on House of Games this week having previously been on regular Pointless. He was the only one of the four I'd never heard of but is famous enough to have his own HBO/Netflix special.

Maisie Adam was on The Chase before she made it big and her appearance is still on The Chase YouTube channel.

I wonder when Leo Reich was on Pointless?

[tellyblues]

On Eggheads, the focus on the celeb is lessened because it's a team effort and it would probably be seen as a bad move to rob "non-celebs" their chance of appearing on the show just because of who their friend is.

With something like BGT, producers have to be extra careful because viewers actually see some of the people who don't get through, specifically kids standing out in the pouring rain waiting to audition. When someone who has a level of performing experience has been invited on to the show (contrast this with Joe Bloggs who has slogged over their application form to get it in on time), bypasses the initial audition (perhaps), and, shock horror, miraculously gets four yeses in front of the judges, people will kick up hell.

In both cases it's about what's perceived to be fair and in the spirit of the show. There are other reasons why a person may not be considered (positively at least) for participating, some of which have been referred to.

[JLav25]

I feel like this was a conversation on Fingers on Buzzer podcast Jenny Ryan and that comedian do once.

I think there is a simple answer here and that is it ‘depends’. Presumably anyone of any fame level can apply for things like The Chase or Eggheads and it’s up for the producers if they want them or not. Presumably if you were famous enough, you’d rather just get paid to go on the celebrity version. But there is probably aren’t any arbitrary rules on whether people are celebrities or not.


Talking of Gregg Scott, wasn’t he on Countdown as a contestant in more recent years?

Yes, well if you consider 2011 as recent.

Countdown's had a few minor celebs pop up as contestants over the years. Alex Horne appeared as a contestant very early into his stand up career and even qualified for the series finals, but had to withdraw because filming dates clashed with his comedy schedule. They've even had Matt Le Tissier appear as a contestant years AFTER he had previously appeared as a Dictionary Corner guest.

Emma Kennedy and Mitch Benn appeared as contestants on Only Connect a few years back as well, this being after Emma had previously won Celebrity Masterchef

[Spencer]

When Greg was on Countdown, they did mention that he used to be the warm-up man for the programme. I seem to remember he was on the list of locally-based standby contestants, and so took part at short notice when someone else had to pull out.

One factor which does sometimes contribute to the same contestants appearing on multiple shows, is when they're casting for a new, unknown show, they often don't have many people applying to take part, and so contact people who've already appeared on other programmes. A friend of mine was on Fifteen To One, and later got a call asking if he'd like to take part in Think Tank (Bill Turnbull's short-lived quiz on BBC Two), which he then went on to appear on.

When I was on Tipping Point though, I had to state that I'd not taken part in a quiz/game show within the previous 12 months, and would not take part in another one within the following six months.

[JLav25]

When Greg was on Countdown, they did mention that he used to be the warm-up man for the programme. I seem to remember he was on the list of locally-based standby contestants, and so took part at short notice when someone else had to pull out.

One factor which does sometimes contribute to the same contestants appearing on multiple shows, is when they're casting for a new, unknown show, they often don't have many people applying to take part, and so contact people who've already appeared on other programmes. A friend of mine was on Fifteen To One, and later got a call asking if he'd like to take part in Think Tank (Bill Turnbull's short-lived quiz on BBC Two), which he then went on to appear on.

When I was on Tipping Point though, I had to state that I'd not taken part in a quiz/game show within the previous 12 months, and would not take part in another one within the following six months.

BIB1- I'm in various FB groups for certain shows, and producers often post casting calls for both new shows and established in them. It was similar for audiences pre-Covid. I remember having attended recordings of Countdown and Uni Challenge in close succession and got cornered by the audience director while leaving, asking could I come to be in the auidence the next day for a new quiz they were filming (which guessing by the date, I think would have been Andi Peter's short lived Ejector Seat), but I was unavailable.

BIB2- The rule about not taking part on other shows seems to be very inconsistent. A friend of mine had to wait more than a year after filming Eggheads to apply for other shows while waiting for his Eggheads episode to air, yet others seem to be on shows within a few weeks of each other. I even vaguely remember somebody being on Mastermind and Only Connect in the same year.

[James2001]

I've been rewatching Cheers the last few months and got to the episode where Cliff was on Jeopardy yesterday. I'm guessing nobody on the UK version has given "Three people who have never been in my kitchen" as a solution 😁

[Flux]

I've been rewatching Cheers the last few months and got to the episode where Cliff was on Jeopardy yesterday. I'm guessing nobody on the UK version has given "Three people who have never been in my kitchen" as a solution 😁

It wouldn’t be accepted as an answer, would it? Unless they said “Who are three people who have never been in my kitchen”

[XIII]

BIB1- I'm in various FB groups for certain shows, and producers often post casting calls for both new shows and established in them. It was similar for audiences pre-Covid. I remember having attended recordings of Countdown and Uni Challenge in close succession and got cornered by the audience director while leaving, asking could I come to be in the auidence the next day for a new quiz they were filming (which guessing by the date, I think would have been Andi Peter's short lived Ejector Seat), but I was unavailable.

BIB2- The rule about not taking part on other shows seems to be very inconsistent. A friend of mine had to wait more than a year after filming Eggheads to apply for other shows while waiting for his Eggheads episode to air, yet others seem to be on shows within a few weeks of each other. I even vaguely remember somebody being on Mastermind and Only Connect in the same year.

It's better to be honest and stick to the rules then try your luck and potentially get blacklisted although saying that, I wouldn't be surprised if that rule was relaxed during the pandemic though.

[Spencer]

BIB2- The rule about not taking part on other shows seems to be very inconsistent. A friend of mine had to wait more than a year after filming Eggheads to apply for other shows while waiting for his Eggheads episode to air, yet others seem to be on shows within a few weeks of each other. I even vaguely remember somebody being on Mastermind and Only Connect in the same year.

It must be almost impossible to ensure this doesn’t happen when the time between recording and transmission varies so much from one programme to another. Plus there are repeat showings to factor in as well.