Lee Mack recalls his hilarious appearance on Pointless with Bobby Ball

29 October 2020, 15:09 | Updated: 29 October 2020, 16:53

The comedian recalled his embarrassing stint on the TV quiz show with the late Cannon & Ball star.

Bobby Ball - one half of the much-loved comedy duo Cannon & Ball - died yesterday, aged 76.

Tributes to the comedian have been pouring out since the news was announced, but one memory in particular has been shared on social media - the time Bobby Ball went on Pointless with Lee Mack.

Back in November 2013, Bobby appeared as a guest on Celebrity Pointless. The Children In Need special paired the veteran star with Mack - who played Bobby's son in the sitcom Not Going Out.

On Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast back in 2015, Lee remembered their appearance on the quiz where the challenge is to rack up the least amount of points possible by coming up with obscure answers to difficult questions.

Mack remembered: "My children are obsessed with two programmes: Doctor Who and Pointless. And they've always said to me, PLEASE, if you get a chance, will you go on either of those shows. Surprisingly, it's been a bit easier to get on Pointless.

"We drove three hours in the worst traffic possible to Elstree Studios. The show was delayed, we were late. The kids were so excited to meet Richard Osman and Alexander Armstrong - everything was so exciting. Here I am on Pointless, impressing my kids."

Each Pointless round has two turns for each team - if they offer a wrong answer, a contestant gets a score of 100, which is the worst you can possibly achieve.

Lee contnued: "Bobby said to me, Can I go first, I'm nervous? So Bobby goes first, and the question is 'Name a word that ends in SON'.

"Bob went: 'Appleson'.

"He didn't think at all. I said, 'What does that mean?' He said, 'I dunno, I just made it up'."

Unsurprisingly, Bobby Ball notched up a score of 100, meaning that the pair were knocked out in round one. "I've not even had a go - and we're out," said Mack.

He mused: "To be fair, Alexander Armstrong didn't say 'Name a word that exists'."

So Bobby Ball and Lee Mack were beaten by two teams of McFly and veteran broadcasters Terry Wogan and Esther Rantzen. Bad luck!

You can hear the whole Lee Mack interview on Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast via Global Player here.

Read more: Chris Moyles joins stars paying tribute to Bobby Ball