Pointless star Richard Osman has decided to quit from the long running BBC One series after filmed more than 1,300 episodes and nearly 30 series.
Richard is leaving show because he wants to focus on his hugely successful writing career which has seen him become a best-selling author, having initially stood in for a test run for the BBC.
Richard who has created show’s format will be replaced by a series of rotating guest co-hosts. Series’ filming will start in May and will be the first time since the show first aired in 2009 that Richard will not be there as Alexander’s “Pointless friend” behind his trusty laptop.
But Richard will continue to host the celebrity spin-off Pointless Celebrities in the short-term but is expected to step away from that too.
Source said: “Quiz fans and housewives all over the country will be gutted by this news. Richard has become a staple of the daytime
schedule but sadly all good things must come to an end.
“Richard has loved every second of doing the show alongside Xander but he really wants to give his all to his writing career which has been
an enormous success.
“His departure is completely amicable but he just does not have enough hours in the day to do everything so sadly something had to give.”
Source added, “His literary career is going from strength to strength so he’s having to be slightly more choosy with what he does TV-wise.”
“He will still be hosting House of Games for the BBC.”
“The headaches of what to do with his role long-term now begin. In the meantime, they’re going to rotate guest co-hosts behind the laptop,
but there’s not heaps of time before filming begins so they’re trying
to find the right people quickly.”
“He is a telly legend so is a hard man to replace.” Richard has now become a runaway success in world having
released his first novel The Thursday Murder Club in 2020, and its sequel of The Man Who Died Twice in 2021.
Richard’s agent Juliet Mushens said: “When Richard told me he had written a novel I knew that it would be warm and witty. However, I wasn’t quite prepared for how brilliantly the Thursday Murder Club would come to life.”
