New line-of presenters to join Alexander Armstrong

Comedians including Chris Ramsey, Josh Widdicombe, Phil Wang, and Desiree Burch are to guest host the next series of Pointless,

The line-up also includes Mel Giedroyc, Liza Tarbuck, Hugh Denni, and Ellie Taylor.

Host Alexander Armstrong has been joined by a series of guest hosts since Richard Osman left the  hit daytime quiz in 2022.

Ramsey said: ‘I’m very excited to be part of such an iconic game show and even more excited to be the guy who already knows all the answers to the questions… like some kind of game show Neo. No pressure, just correcting people’s wrong answers. Absolute dream come true.’

Widdicombe said ‘I am thrilled to be given the chance to pretend to be Richard Osman for a couple of weeks, and to any publishers watching, yes, I will write you a murder mystery.’

And Wang couldn’t help boast of past glories, saying: ‘Having won two Pointless trophies myself on the famously much harder Celebrity version of the show, I’m thrilled to have an opportunity to dominate from behind the desk as well. I literally have ALL the answers.’

Taylor said: ‘What a privilege to finally be able to sit behind the Pointless desk and not be removed by security. I can’t wait to work with Xander to see how the Pointless sausages are made and crucially, what the laptop password is.’

Desiree Burch added: ‘There are a select few friends back in America for whom my appearance on Pointless will be, possibly, the standout achievement of my career. As for myself, I just feel lucky to have stumbled upon a chance at redemption. Having been caught as dumbfounded as anyone whilst on Pointless Celebrities, I somehow find myself fortunate enough to have made it to the side of the stage with all the answers? Here's to failing upwards and onwards, folks!’

Dennis says: ‘I am very pleased to have been invited to co-host Pointless. I've been practicing reading the answers from a laptop, while looking like I knew them all anyway…’ 

Giedroyc said: ‘Alongside the Roosevelt desk, The News at 10 desk and that of David Brent, the Pointless desk is iconic, and I feel beyond privileged to get to take a seat behind it as co-host for the new series of Pointless. The chance to quiz with Xander just makes the whole thing the epitome of perfection – I cannot wait.’

Tarbuck added: ‘I love a quiz and I think Pointless is a brilliant concept…we have quiz hour at Tarby Towers, sit down with a cup of tea to play along, so I wanted to amuse Mum and Dad and be on it. I'm really looking forward to working alongside Xander, he's effortlessly charming and generous, which is one of the reasons we let him into our homes every afternoon. I think I'm going to love it."

Other celebrities taking part next series are Gok Wan, Anita Rani, Gabby Logan and Rob Rinder.

Armstrong says: ‘I can't wait to get my teeth into a new run of Pointless with all these brilliant people. I'm so enjoying glancing over to the desk to find so many fabulous faces looking back and furnishing me, and our lovely viewers, with facts.’

Published: 29 Jan 2024