After nearly 13 years in the hot seat, BBC quiz show Pointless has a new host. Richard Osman was replaced by former Coronation Street actress Sally Lindsay who said she was 'excited' to step into the position. However, fans soon spotted what they thought was a flaw.
Sally joined regular host Alexander Armstrong on the long-running BBC One show on Tuesday, September 20. In April Richard announced that he was stepping back from the role. The presenter and novelist has been part of the game show alongside Alexander since it made its debut in 2009.
Alexander beamed as he introduced Sally, saying: "My new Pointless friend. My first in 12 years the wonderful Sally Lindsay." And she told him: "This is so exciting and so surreal." The actress is one of an all-star line-up of guest presenters which includes Alex Brooker, Lauren Laverne, Stephen Mangan, Konnie Huq and Ed Gamble.
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Richard, whose role has been delivering the answers to the general knowledge questions put to the contestants, said he would be tuning in to watch the show. He tweeted: "So excited about watching this at 5.15. The first time I've ever been able to watch #Pointless and actually play along without knowing the answers already. Good luck to the first of the ace new co-hosts".
Sally, who also starred as Lisa Johnson in the Sky comedy Mount Pleasant, has previously hosted the ITV game show Tenable. She said to the contestants: "Lovely to meet you all. Please be gentle with me."
But it wasn't long before some viewers took to Twitter to complain about Sally 'reading' from the laptop in front of her. One person said: "Will you please stop constantly looking down at your laptop and engage more with contestants? Not liking the new look, sorry." And another added: "Richard Osman always gave the appearance that he knew the information he was giving, Sally Lindsay is clearly just reading from a laptop #pointless."
Comments continued, according to Manchester Evening News, which spotted one Twitter user commenting: "I’m struggling to get used to Sally Lindsay on pointless reading off a screen. Hope she grows into the role and starts to get more spontaneous."
But praise came too: "I love Sally Lindsay. Haters can do one. #pointless #sallylindsay." Another said: "Watching #pointless for the great @sally_lindsay." With someone else adding: "Stop all your ****** whingeing about Sally on #Pointless. Richard did it for 12 years, he had built up a huge knowledge of facts over that time. Sally has done one episode & was fine. She did what she needed to do & got on well with Xander & the contestants. Pipe down moaners."
But Richard took to Twitter too. Joking about the laptop, he shared a photo of Sally looking at the screen and wrote: "Wait, the laptop WORKS NOW????" Sally replied with a laughing emoji: "I don’t think you had it plugged in."
Richard will continue to host Pointless Celebrities as well as his BBC Two show, Richard Osman’s House of Games.
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