Comic, 95, said to be suffering from a bad back

Nicholas Parsons missed a recording of Radio 4’s Just A Minute last night after falling ill.

It is only the second time the 95-year-old broadcaster has missed a taping in the panel show’s 52 year history.

Show regular Gyles Brandreth again stepped in to chair the two episodes of the panel show that were recorded at the Edinburgh Fringe with contestants including Paul Merton, Lucy Porter, Ed Byrne and Fred MacAulay.

According to the Daily Mail, Brandreth joked that Parsons, who was said to have been struck down by a bad back, ‘can’t be here tonight as he’s auditioning for Naked Attraction on Channel 4.’

The veteran, who came to fame in the 1960s as the straightman for Arthur Haynes, has been performing his Happy Hour talk show at the Fringe, with the run due to end this weekend.

Parsons missed a recording for the first time ever in April last year because of flu. Brandreth also stood in then, with BBC Studios’s head of radio comedy, Julia McKenzie, assuring listeners that ‘apocalypse is not upon us’ because of his absence.

Published: 7 Aug 2019