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Richard Osman has claimed Pointless’ ratings increase when health secretary Matt Hancock is delivering the daily government briefings on the other channel.
The quiz show often goes head to head with news coverage of the press conferences, after being bumped from its usual teatime slot on BBC One to BBC Two during the pandemic.
And Richard has said viewing figures for Pointless fluctuate depending on which minister is speaking – and it’s awkward news for Hancock.
Speaking to Radio Times, Richard said: “Pointless is definitely getting a new audience, although we’re up against Boris Johnson or Matt Hancock sometimes.
“If it’s Matt Hancock, our ratings shoot up, but when it’s Rishi Sunak, we’re in trouble.”
Richard added that the chancellor was “very much the Bradley Walsh of the cabinet”, in reference to how Pointless often loses out to Bradley’s ITV quiz show The Chase in the teatime ratings battle.
Richard’s co-host Alexander Armstrong believes the ongoing health crisis has seen a rise in the popularity of quiz shows because they “distract” people from real life.
He said: “We’re spending an awful lot of time inside our heads. For some people, that’s a nice place to be, and for some, it’s a very difficult place to be.
“A quiz show distracts you. You can’t be worrying as much if you’re trying to think of an African country.“
Offering his advice to families and groups of friends putting together their own virtual quizzes during lockdown, Richard – who created the Pointless format – said: “Don’t ask too many questions with specific answers.
″‘Which South American country won the first World Cup?’ – you can at least chat and guess.”
Read the full interview with Richard and Alexander in this week’s issue of Radio Times, on sale now.