Come and Have A Go

Now Betsan and Bamber too ? Three on to one is bullying, chaps.

The Dumbing Down spat between our Jeremy “Piledriver” Paxman and John “The Hurricane” Humphrys rumbles on. I see that Mastermind Plant Cymru’s Betsan Powys has added her weight to the Mastermind camp.

It seems that John Humphrys may have been reading LAM, since he has challenged Jeremy Paxman to appear on Celebrity Mastermind, offering to make the questions a bit easier for him, or if he prefers, to have a 10 question shoot out, with each one facing questions from the other’s show . The quote in the article in Wales Online ends with the words, “Come on Paxman, if you think you’re hard enough.”

Betsan Powys has come out in support of her fellow Mastermind host, saying that in Mastermind there is no place to hide, which is absolutely true, of course. As for Bamber Gascoigne, I noticed a headline in the paper saying that Bamber thinks that Jeremy Paxman is beastly to contestants. However it must be said that this is from the ‘old news’ file, and is a comment made after watching a show some years ago , I believe. Bamber doesn’t watch television before 8:30 in the evening.

Reading the article in Wales Online it was nice to see my friend Mark Labbett , from the Rugby Boys in Only Connect, and also from ITV’s The Chase, being quoted. Mark know what he is talking about with regards to quizzes; he is media savvy, and always available for every eventuality. He said some very complimentary things about Mastermind, saying that “contestants are in the top 10, nationally and internationally. They are serious quizzers. If someone who won the show in the 1980s entered now they would not even get to the final.” Well, that’s probably forgiveable hyperbole, Mark. Last time I checked my ranking I think that it was more like top 100, if that, rather than top 10. I think Mr. Chris Hughes – champion 1983 to name but one might disagree too.

Jeremy Paxman himself has described the reaction to his comments as a confection of nothing. So I guess we won’t be seeing this heavyweight contest any time soon. A pity. If the two of them took it in the right spirit it would make a hell of a segment for Children in Need or Comic Relief.