Pointless Celebrities


5:15 pm - 6:00 pm, Friday, January 2 on BBC One London HD (101)

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About this Broadcast

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Season 17, Episode 8

Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman present a star-studded version of the general knowledge quiz. James Jordan, Gemma Collins, Brian McFadden, Ionica Adriana, Melvin Odoom, Hayley Hasselhoff, Charlie Hedges and Melinda Messenger try to come up with the least likely correct answers to a series of questions posed to members of the public


HD subtitles repeat 16x9
Quiz Show Show/Game Show

Cast & Crew

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Did You Know..

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Alexander Armstrong (Presenter)
Born: August 14, 1970 in Rothbury, Northumberland
Best Known For: The Armstrong and Miller Show.
Early-life: Alexander Henry Fenwick Armstrong was born in Northumberland on March 2, 1970. His father is a distant relative of Ralph Richardson, and an appearance on Who Do You Think You Are? showed him to be a direct descendent of William the Conqueror. Alexander was a gifted pianist as a child but was nervous about featuring in concerts. At Cambridge University, he performed with the Footlights entertainment troupe, where he was the comedy partner of Spooks creator David Wolstencroft.
Career: Armstrong made his film and TV debuts in 1994 in There's No Business and A Breed of Heroes. He was introduced to Ben Miller in 1996 and their subsequent success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe led to their first sketch series in 1997; they've worked together a number of times since on various projects. Armstrong played the lead in short-lived sitcom Beast. He has also appeared in Birthday Girl (2001), I Saw You, TLC, Saxondale, Life Begins, The Trial of Tony Blair, Mutual Friends, Woody Allen's Match Point (2005) and Scoop (2006). Armstrong was the voice of supercomputer Mr Smith in The Sarah Jane Adventures, appeared in the 2011 Doctor Who Christmas Special and has presented the BBC game show Pointless since 2009. In recent years, he has also voiced Danger Mouse in the revival of the animated series and presented Rome's Invisible City, Land of the Midnight Sun and Don't Ask Me Ask Britain.
Quote: "Offers come up all the time, and I'm getting better at saying no to things, and just picking the things that amuse me."
Trivia: In 2010, he won a Bafta TV Award for The Armstrong and Miller Show.
Richard Osman (Co host)
Born: November 28, 1970 in Billericay
Best Known For: Pointless.
Early-life: Richard Thomas Osman was born in Billericay on November 28, 1970, but grew up in West Sussex. He was raised by his single mum after his father left home - they didn't see each other for 20 years. Richard studied politics and sociology at Trinity College, Cambridge, where his future Pointless colleague Alexander Armstrong was reading English literature. He claims that one of his proudest moments came when his mum and grandfather watched his graduation.
Career: Osman has worked behind the scenes as an executive producer on a number of TV programmes, including Deal or No Deal, 8 Out of 10 Cats, and 10 O'Clock Live. As the UK creative director of TV production company Endemol, he pitched the quiz Pointless to the BBC. As a way of explaining the rules, he played the co-host during a run-through. He was asked to do the role for real when the show was commissioned. Pointless started on BBC Two in 2009 and was an immediate hit. It quickly made the switch to BBC One. Since being in the spotlight on Pointless, he has made guest appearances on QI, Have I Got News for You and Would I Lie to You? He also guest presented an episode of The One Show alongside Alex Jones.
Quote: "Whenever I turn up to pub quizzes now, I see people going: ‘Urgh, that's the guy who knows everything.'"
Trivia: He is the younger brother of Mat Osman, bassist with Suede, and suffers from nystagmus, a condition that results in uncontrolled movement of the eyes.
Melinda Messenger (Guest)
Born: February 23, 1971 in Swindon
Best Known For: Being a Page Three model
Early-life: Melinda Jayne Messenger was born in Swindon on February 23, 1971. Her parents divorced when she was five. After leaving school, she worked for Britannia Airways as a flight attendant for six months. She then joined a marketing company, rising to the position of customer services manager. However, Melinda decided she wanted to be a model and was advised to have her breasts enlarged. A campaign for a double glazing company led to national exposure.
Career: Messenger's racy photoshoots for tabloid newspapers made her a firm favourite with male readers. The Sun poached her and named her "the girl of the Thrillenium", until its readers voted to ban surgically enhanced models from Page 3. Her TV career began in 1997 when she worked on Channel 4's Eurotrash. A year later, she joined ex-EastEnders actor Leslie Grantham to present Five's cult game show Fort Boyard. In 2002, she came third on Celebrity Big Brother and was a contestant on Dancing on Ice in 2009. Other projects include Live From Studio Five and Cowboy Builders. In early 2014, she was one of the celebrity contestants on Channel 4's reality series The Jump.
Quote: "I think I've had to work twice as hard as anyone else because there's a lot of prejudice, and people think 'she's a glamour model so she's this type of person' so I've always had to battle that sort of prejudice."
Trivia: Messenger has performed in a number of pantomimes.
Charlie Hedges (Guest)
Hayley Hasselhoff (Guest)
Melvin Odoom (Guest)
Ionica Adriana (Guest)
Brian McFadden (Guest)
Born: April 12, 1980 in Dublin
Best Known For: Being a member of Westlife.
Early-life: Brian Nicholas McFadden was born in Dublin on April 12, 1980. With his sister Susan, he attended the Billie Barry Stage School in Dublin. His big break came in 1998 when he successfully auditioned for a place in boy band Westlife.
Career: With McFadden as part of the group, Westlife released four studio albums and a greatest hits album that all went to number one in Ireland. In March 2004, he left the group to concentrate on solo projects. He released his debut album later the same year. Despite never achieving the same success he enjoyed with Westlife, McFadden has continued to record songs. His fourth solo album, The Irish Connection, was released in March 2013. Away from music, he became a judge on Australia's Got Talent in 2010 and he has hosted Channel 5 dating game show Stand By Your Man and ITV series Who's Doing the Dishes? In 2015, he appeared in talent show Get Your Act Together, and in early 2016, he was a contestant on Channel 4's sporting reality show The Jump.
Quote: "I have had many incredible moments in my career. But I wake up everyday and believe the greatest moments are yet to come."
Trivia: In 2013, McFadden and his then wife Vogue Williams came second on ITV dancing show Stepping Out.
Gemma Collins (Guest)
Born: February 02, 1981 in Essex
Best Known For: The Only Way Is Essex.
Early-life: Gemma was born in Essex on February 2, 1981. She attended the Sylvia Young Theatre School as a child and starred in a number of theatrical productions, including The Sound of Music. She raised her profile in 2011 by joining ITV2 reality series The Only Way Is Essex (TOWIE).
Career: Collins's time on TOWIE has led to appearances on I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here NOW!, This Morning, Loose Women and Celebrity Juice. In 2011, she did a nude shoot for Heat magazine. In January 2014, she was a participant on ITV reality series Splash! In November 2014, she opened her second plus size boutique in Brentwood. In the same month, she had a short-lived stay in the jungle as a contestant on I'm a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! In January 2016, she entered the Celebrity Big Brother house.
Quote: "I'm an old fashioned girl. I've never had Botox or a boob job. I'm an everyday girl. The idea of being magazine-perfect is rubbish."
Trivia: Collins has designed her own plus size clothing range and released her autobiography in 2013.
James Jordan (Guest)
Born: April 13, 1978 in Gillingham
Best Known For: Being a dancer on Strictly Come Dancing.
Early-life: James was born in Gillingham on April 13, 1978 to Sharon and Alan. His parents used to teach at Peggy Spencer's dance school in Penge but gave up dancing after having children. James has an older sister, Kelly. He began dancing at the age of 10. By 15, he was competing in open competitions. In his late teens, he worked with his father as an engineer in a power station to fund dance classes. After taking a short break from dancing, James travelled to Poland to have a try-out with Ola Grabowska (better known now as Ola Jordan). Within three weeks, Ola moved to the UK and they became dance partners.
Career: Jordan and Grabowska went on to win a number of dance competitions. After getting married in 2003, they moved to Hong Kong, where they taught Latin American dancing for four years. They came to prominence in the UK in 2006 when they both appeared as professional dancers on Strictly Come Dancing. Jordan went on to appear in a further seven series of Strictly. His best outing was second place in 2012 with actress and singer Denise van Outen. In the summer of 2014, he entered the Celebrity Big Brother house.
Quote: "When I was in my teens I had to choose which style to specialise in and, at that age, there was no competition - the girls wear less in Latin!"
Trivia: Jordan was a choreographer on the series So You Think You Can Dance.
Laura Turner (Executive producer)
Tamara Gilder (Executive producer)
James Evans (Series producer)
Abigail Dankwa (Director)