Trauma is good for kids – host of Child Genius

IT IS one of the most fiendish shows on TV, pushing children to the limit as they struggle to answer a barrage of Mensalevel questions.

But Child Genius host Richard Osman says going through ‘a bit of trauma’ on TV is no bad thing because it teaches the young contestants life lessons.

The father of two, 46, told Radio Times: ‘I don’t mind people going through difficulty. I don’t mind people crying, because that happens in life. Forget about good telly. It happens in life and it’s important.’

He added: ‘The first thing I tell the children is, “Look, 19 of you are not going to win this. Only one of you is.” But you know what? By and large, you don’t win stuff in life. What gets you through is being proud of yourself and doing your best. You don’t build resilience by stepping away from being competitive.’

The Pointless host also said he hopes the Channel 4 show encourages children to think more positively about intelligence. He said: ‘It’s cool to be good at sport, it’s cool to be funny, but it’s not always fun to be clever. But on this show we make clever kids the heroes.’