Two comedians join the Richard Osman's House of Games line-up this week alongside cycling legend Chris Hoy anf Ian 'H' Watkins from Steps. They are rising star Ola Labib and the already risen star Rosie Jones.
It may well be Rosie Jones who gets most of the attention. Previous appearances on television have sparked so much trolling and ableism on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Jones has taken breaks from going online. She told me in an interview that she even employs a company to go through posts: "Having cerebral palsy and being in the media means I receive online abuse pretty much every day. 95% of Twitter comments are lovely but it's that 5% that keep me up at night, so for my own mental health I pay a social media company to go through my tweets."
Jones was last in the news when she appeared on the Big Fat Quiz of the Year on Channel 4 and abusive trolls said that she was not funny. Before then the same thing had happened when she appeared on The Royal Variety Performance which was broadcast on ITV1 in December. There were plenty of positive posts too with fans saying how much they loved her, but others said that Jones spoilt the show.
Yet Jones clearly is funny as well as talented. Fans pointed out that if she was not funny how come she had been a successful writer for other comedians before she appeared onstage herself? She is also a talented actor. She got a lot of positive feedback after her recent appearance on Call The Midwife when she played a pregnant woman in the first episode in the new series.
Anyway, this piece is supposed to be previewing her appearance on House of Games, so let's just say she has good form when it comes to quiz shows. She appeared on Celebrity Mastermind in November and won that. So let's just say she is not only funny and talented, she is probably the hot favourite to win House of Games this week.
Richard Osman's House of Games. Monday, January 15 - Friday, January 19, BBC Two, 6pm.
Picture Credit: BBC/Remarkable TV/Graeme Hunter