Celebrity versions of Benchmark announced

Jimmy Carr, Vic Reeves, Mark Watson and Jason Byrne are to appear in a celebrity version of Channel 4's new daytime quiz Benchmark.

The show, hosted by Paddy McGuinness, launches in a 4pm slot from June, with e five celebrity specials airing later this summer.

Each episode involves 11 contestants, with an initial head-to-head determining who becomes the main contestant. The remaining ten will answer numerical general knowledge questions with their answers setting the benchmark. Then, the contestant has to decide whether the correct answer is higher or lower than that.

Others taking part in the celebrity specials include John Thomson, Joey Essex, James Haskell, Lesley Joseph, Amanda Byram and Edwina Currie. They are all pictured here in a selfie taken on set as part of the show.

McGuinness said: 'It's going to be brilliant. The only thing I'm worried about is how long the recordings are going to take. That, and getting a word in edgeways.'

Thirty regular episodes and five celebrity specials – all an hour long – were commissioned for Channel 4 by Syeda Irtizaali from producers Victory Television.

Published: 20 May 2015