Richard Osman: ‘I thought Pointless would last six weeks, but Alexander and I want to do it forever’

EACH weekday at teatime he’s jokingly introduced as Alexander Armstrong’s “Pointless friend”.

But spending time in the company of genial Richard Osman confirms him to be anything but pointless.

Not only is the towering brainbox (he’s 6ft 7in) one of TV’s favourite personalities since finding fame as co-presenter of Pointless, he’s also the inspired genius behind the show and many others, including Deal Or No Deal, Beat The Nation, Total Wipeout and Million Pound Drop.

The creative director at production company Endemol is warm, funny and friendly – so it’s no surprise he seems to barely be off the box these days.

He’s the presenter of Two Tribes, Child Genius and House Of Games, to name a few, and a regular on panel shows such as Would I Lie To You?, Have I Got News For You and is regular guest host on The One Show, all of which allow him to show off his quick wit.

But there was no grand plan to move out from behind the camera.

“I was very happy getting on with my career, working behind the scenes on a lot of shows,” explained the 47-year-old.

“We were working on the idea of Pointless, running it through, trying it out on different people – basically the job I’ve been doing for many years – when I was asked by the BBC to be co-presenter.

“The show was inspired by Beat The Nation and took only four months from initial idea to the BBC pitch.

“I went to university with Xander and heard he’d tried out for Countdown. He didn’t seem a typical daytime host, but we thought he might try for our show.

“I suppose, if you live long enough, bizarre coincidences happen and the pair of us found ourselves dovetailed into this and the show became a juggernaut.”

Since its debut in 2009, Pointless has continued to gain fans and its spin-off, Pointless Celebrities, is a Saturday night hit, but Richard hadn’t prepared himself for fame.

“I’ve been around long enough to know most shows don’t work.

“I thought it would be over in six weeks and just be something to tell the grandkids about. As a producer I thought it would be interesting to be in front of the camera.

“Xander asked, ‘What if we do 1000?’ and I told him there was no chance, and I knew what I was talking about.

“When we were told a replacement was needed for The Weakest Link and they moved us from BBC 2 to BBC 1, I said that was the end of us. Then when they said we were going to do Pointless Celebrities I thought it was too much. Yet here we are at 1200 episodes and we’re about to film 200 more.

“If it was up to Xander and me we would do Pointless for ever, because we love it. As long as the BBC wants it, we’ll continue.

“But I remain the pessimistic TV producer, so I never think any further ahead than two years.

“Xander, on the other hand, will tell you we’ll eventually have 20,000 episodes under our belts!”

Becoming involved in TV never crossed Richard’s mind while he was growing up in Sussex. Instead, he aspired to be a sports journalist.

He and older brother Mat, who went on to find fame as bass player with Britpop band Suede, were brought up in a working-class family by their single parent mum, a teacher.

Money was tight but they never wanted for encouragement or love, and Richard was offered a place to study at Cambridge.

“I’m from the south of England so have an accent that people think is posh, but I was a state-educated schoolboy,” he explained.

“I thought Cambridge would be tough and I had a huge chip on my shoulder going in, but it was an eye-opener.

“I found myself mixing with people I still socialise with today. Lots of them went to very posh public schools and it was a shock that I got along with them.

“Cambridge changed my opinions on a lot of things and I’ve found myself somewhere very different from how I was brought up.

“It’s something I think about a lot. When you look at issues like Trump and Brexit, there are some parts of society that can’t understand each other and I feel like I’m bang in the middle and want to knock their heads together at times.

“I was very lucky to go to Cambridge. I had a full grant and everything was paid for, so I had no concerns, but I worry that poorer kids aren’t going to get those same opportunities now – although it perhaps isn’t quite as bad in Scotland with tuition fees paid.

“I grew up in a family with no background in journalism or television, but I loved sport and writing, so when I was a teenager I’d write articles for titles like NME and Golf Monthly and send them in. Often they were published.

“I was a proper TV geek when I was young – that was what I loved most of all, especially quiz shows.

“People said I watched too much TV but it turns out that wasn’t the case, because it became my career!

“When I left university I didn’t have a clue what to do. Then I saw a role advertised for a TV researcher – I didn’t know there was such a thing – and I haven’t had a day out of work since.

“My son is 17 and has no idea what he wants to do for a living, but I told him not to worry because I didn’t know until the day I went for that interview.”

Richard has a daughter, Ruby, and Sonny from a previous relationship.

“My daughter has just started university and she’ll be fine – she spots every angle going! She’s studying Chinese, so the future belongs to her and the pressure is off me to make any more money!”

Although Richard didn’t expect to be in the spotlight, there’s no denying he’s found it a pleasant experience.

“I was after 40 when it happened, so I’ve been able to embrace it and my ego is quite relaxed,” he smiled.

“People by and large are lovely and it has been overwhelmingly positive so far.

“I’ve worked with lots of people over the years who have become friends and fame affects some of them badly, especially the younger ones.

“I’ve seen it so many times and it’s an illusion, people being so nice to you, so I don’t internalise any of it.

“Maybe it would have changed my feelings of self-worth had I been 25 when this all happened instead of now.”

Richard’s latest project is an interactive book, The World Cup Of Everything, in which he takes categories such as animals, Christmas songs, crisps and British sitcoms, and whittles them down until he has a winner for each.

“I did the first one when I was 12, just for my own amusement. I’ve always been fascinated by polling and statistics.

“I love the idea of people arguing for four days about chocolate – it’s so British and charming.

“More recently I did it on Twitter. I thought it would take 10 minutes of my time, but the first one garnered two million votes and betting companies got involved, so now I do one every six months and raise money for a charity I’m involved in, Childs i Foundation.

“The book is something you can share with friends and family, and I love the idea of people playing it at Christmas.”

Although Richard loves life in front of the camera, he won’t give up the day job.

“Going into the office, taking a pen and piece of paper and coming up with new ideas is incredibly important to me,” he added.

“But the thing I love about TV is that new stuff comes along all the time and it’s always exciting. I never want to lose that buzz.

“I’ve done all the monetising behind the scenes, now it’s all about the funetising!”

The World Cup Of Everything is out now, published by Hodder & Stoughton.