NICE NOT NAUGHTY
Richard Osman reveals real reason he QUIT hit show after six series as he takes a swipe at C4 bosses
The podcast reveals the secrets behind our TV screens
RICHARD Osman reveals the real reason he quit his hit show after six years as he takes a swipe at C4 bosses.
The Rest Is Entertainment is a podcast that reveals the secrets of television, movies, journalism and more.
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It is hosted by TV presenter and best selling Author Richard Osman and journalist Marina Hyde.
Utilising their years of knowledge and contacts, the pair bring listeners what’s hot, and what’s not in the world of entertainment.
On the most recent episode a listener asked Richard about Junior Taskmaster.
The show is a spin-off from the hit comedy panel show Taskmaster and the contestants are children aged between 9 and 11.
Read more on Richard Osman
Richard appeared in season two of the main series - finishing as runner-up to Jon Richardson.
The junior show features Rose Matafeo as the Taskmaster and Mike Wozniak as her assistant and began airing in late 2024.
Richard was asked: "We are watching Junior Taskmaster at the moment and enjoying it.
"However, it made me wonder if on shows like this with a competitive element for kids, does the team have any problems dealing with the Helicopter parents..as I often hear from teachers and other people working with children that managing the parents is the worse bit."
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Richard responded by explaining that his mother was a primary school teacher for many years and that the moment kids are dropped off at school - the job becomes easier.
He explained: "Junior Taskmaster - which is a delight - is not as competitive as the adult one.
Richard Osman's House Of Games, rhyming round
"The one thing with kids is that you do have to de-competitive it a bit."
He continued: "People often ask us if we would do Pointless for kids and I just think it's quite stressful to do something with kids.
"Taskmaster can get away with it because it's so silly and fun and kids like using their imagination."
"And the show I did which was called Child Genius - again it is the idea that they are children.
"It was the point of the show with that one.
"But by and large unless it's a kid's game show, you wouldn't do stuff for kids, for the reason it can be quite stressful being on television."
Hardest Quiz Show Questions
Would you know the answers to some of quizzing TV's hardest questions
- Who Wants To Be A Millionaire - Earlier this year, fans were left outraged after what they described as the "worst" question in the show's history. Host Jeremy Clarkson asked: “From the 2000 awards ceremony onwards, the Best Actress Oscar has never been won by a woman whose surname begins with which one of these letters?” The multiple choice answers were between G, K, M and W. In the end, and with the £32,000 safe, player Glen had to make a guess and went for G. It turned out to be correct as Nicole Kidman, Frances McDormand and Kate Winslet are among the stars who have won the Best Actress gong since 2000.
- The 1% Club - Viewers of Lee Mack's popular ITV show were left dumbfounded by a question that also left the players perplexed. The query went as follows: "Edna's birthday is on the 6th of April and Jen's birthday falls on the 15th of October, therefore Amir's birthday must be the 'X' of January." It turns out the conundrum links the numbers with its position in the sentence, so 6th is the sixth word and 15th is the fifteenth word. Therefore, Amir’s birthday is January 24th, corresponding to the 24th word in the sentence.
- The Chase - The ITV daytime favourite left fans scratching their heads when it threw up one of the most bizarre questions to ever grace the programme. One of the questions asked the player: "Someone with a nightshade intolerance should avoid eating what?" The options were - sweetcorn, potatoes, carrots - with Steve selecting sweetcorn but the correct answer was potatoes.
Richard then explained how things worked on his previous show, Child Genius, where the children's parents were on set all the time.
He said: "In the end I stopped doing it. The kids were amazing on that show.
"They were just great and also, by the way, almost all the parents were great as well."
He joked: "Most of the parents were just sat there thinking what on earth have I got on my hands here.
"And some of the kids were super competitive - and the parents were also competitive too and I liked hanging out with all of them."
However, he took a swipe at Channel 4, saying "the show was edited in such a way to make the parents look like helicopter parents".
He added that some were portrayed in the edit as pushy parents, when they were actually really sweet, and he didn’t like that.
He elaborated that kids on set are incredibly well looked after, and the atmosphere is a lot of fun.
He revealed one pair on set had an incredible bond but the father was portrayed more as a helicopter parent in the edit of the show.
Richard said: "I don't think the parents are a problem when you have a kids TV show."
Concluding he explained that as long as the show is made with a bit of fun then everyone feels that they have had a sense of magic that day.
Richard stepped down from hosting the show in 2019, after six years.
Earlier this year, Richard revealed 100 new episodes of his hit quiz show House Of Games are on the way.
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The new series comes amid the show’s huge ratings success and its 2024 National Television Award nomination.
The Rest Is Entertainment podcast is available to listen to on most Podcast apps.
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