Belly-laughs Barrowman
JOHN Barrowman is in talks with ITV to get his own comedy sketch show.
The series would be inspired by The Carol Burnett Show, a US sketch series popular in the 70s.
Former Dr Who star John, 53, said of Carol: “Check out her stuff if you can online, she’s hysterical.”
In a podcast with friend and Dancing On Ice star Matt Evers, he also spoke about returning to the UK later this year to star in Holby City, when filming starts after the lockdown.
RICHARD Osman has told how his poor eyesight helped him cope with appearing on Who Wants to be a Millionaire – because he couldn’t see the audience.
The Pointless presenter suffers from a nystagmus, a condition which affects eye movement and reduces vision.
He said: “The world is in a big fog for me, at all times. Even with my glasses on I’m like a normal short-sighted person. It’s unfixable. I can’t drive or anything like that, there’s very few things I can do.
“But the one huge advantage of being me, and not being able to see very well, is that you can sit me in front of an audience or a crowd and it doesn’t worry me because I can’t see anyone more than six feet in front of me.
“It really helps me to focus and has done since I was a kid to be honest. I’m just listening and that’s all I’m doing.”
Richard is self-isolating at home after suffering coronavirus symptoms. He said: “I think I might have had it.”
He appears on a celebrity special of the quiz alongside contestants Charlotte Church and John Barnes.
The 49-year-old agreed to take part to win as much money as possible for his charity, Child’s Eye in Uganda.
He added: “I don’t love being on television, I know that sounds peculiar. But one of the few things I’m good at is quizzes and if someone gives you the opportunity to raise a lot of money by doing a quiz then of course you say yes.
“I absolutely went into it thinking one thing and one thing only… that I’m going to put my foot down and go for it. I want to go all the way to the end. Because imagine if you did?
“That was my tactic and I wasn’t going to duck out at any point.”
The ITV gameshow, hosted by Jeremy Clarkson, was recorded several months ago. And despite not being able to see the audience, Richard admitted he felt under pressure after he won the maximum prize on Celebrity Catchphrase.
He said: “Oh my God, was stressed about it.
“I’d never do something like Celebrity Mastermind because either you do well and people go, ‘Urgh, he’s such a smarta**e’ or you do badly, in which case people go, ‘Oh, I thought he was supposed to be a smarta**e?’
“You can’t win. There’s no upside. “With something like Millionaire, I’ve watched it enough times to know that you can trip up but at least if I do well I know that I’m saving the lives of children out in Africa… that’s a positive upside.” ■ Who Wants To Be A Millionaire Celebrity Special, Sunday, ITV, 7pm.
RICHARD ON HOW POOR VISION AFFECTS HIS LIFE
The world is in a big fog for me.. to be honest, I’m just listening
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