Liam O'Dell
Feb 12, 2022
ITV
A Tipping Point contestant was left rather embarrassed during their time on the popular ITV gameshow, after he confused former deputy leader of the Labour Party, Tom Watson, with the legendary crime writer, Agatha Christie.
An easy mistake to make, of course.
For context, the question asked by host Ben Shephard to contestant Dave on Friday’s programme was: “‘Downsizing: How I lost 8 stone, reversed my diabetes and regained my health’ is a book by which former deputy leader of the Labour Party?”
It was initially posed to fellow contestant Rachael as part of the head-to-head round, but she decided to pass it to her opponent, as she didn’t know the answer either.
“Dave, how’s your political dietary knowledge,” said Shephard, as the contestant braced himself to offer up a response.
“I know nothing about politics, and I know nothing about diets,” replied Dave, appearing to laugh uncomfortably in the process.
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Shephard at least tried to be helpful in response, asking if he could remember “anyone associated with the Labour Party”, but Dave was clearly still struggling.
“The only name that’s coming to mind, and I don’t know why… Agatha Christie, and I don’t even know if she’s in politics at all!
“I’m just going to go with that, I think,” he said.
Unfortunately for Dave, everyone else appeared to know just how wrong he was, as Rachael could be seen laughing while Shephard delivered an astonished look to camera.
They weren’t the only two to find the mishap hilarious, as the clip soon did the rounds on social media:
I saw it and frankly it made my day— Jess Phillips MP (@Jess Phillips MP) 1644621775
The plot twist to end all plot twists— James Ball (@James Ball) 1644615320
The way I gasped— Mollie Goodfellow (@Mollie Goodfellow) 1644614516
The turn to camera! Genius— Rosamund Urwin (@Rosamund Urwin) 1644623769
He\u2019s clearly thinking \u201ccrime fiction\u201d because he has \u201cWatson\u201d in the back of his mind\u2026.— Mark Ludmon (@Mark Ludmon) 1644624199
pic.twitter.com/nlMsSjI5wN— Adam Bienkov (@Adam Bienkov) 1644615462
pic.twitter.com/mTyhnFBtKi— Ali-John Mirsepassi (@Ali-John Mirsepassi) 1644614980
Even Tom Watson himself responded to the gaffe, writing: “This kind of humiliation would never happen to [Ed Balls].”
This kind of humiliation would never happen to @edballs.https://twitter.com/chrisdeerin/status/1492174982079823876\u00a0\u2026— Tom Watson (@Tom Watson) 1644599857
Agatha Christie is yet to comment on the howler, having passed away in 1976.
And it isn’t the first time that a Tipping Point contestant has made an unfortunate blunder, as one individual on the show late last year managed to confuse an Ancient Greek poet with a Simpsons character.
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