Welcome to Day 21 of the Wellbeing 9-a-Day blog! Now that we are three weeks into our journey towards transformed health and wellbeing, I hope you are building positive habits that are improving your experiences of life. In today’s blog, I am going to look back on the greatest victory of my life so far, the day I became a Pointless champion.
A 2nd Generation Game Show Legend
You could say that it was my destiny to become a gameshow legend. My dad had set the bar for me, appearing on Bullseye just a few years after I was born. Bringing a Bully home after gambling in the final round, his answer to Jim Bowen’s question has seen him on TV blunder shows ever since.
With this formidable example set by my dad, it was only matter of time until I tried my hand.
Through my 20s, my favourite quiz show was Pointless. I loved the premise – it is not enough to be right; you need a depth of knowledge to pick obscure answers. When I saw that they were looking for contestants, I filled in an application form and hoped for the best.
Then one day, my phone rang. A production assistant on Pointless loved the application and wanted Jonny and I to audition. I couldn’t make the audition in person due to a planned holiday, but we had both nailed our phone auditions so well that the team allowed us to do our full audition online, something that they had not done before.
The producers liked our audition, and we were picked to appear on the show.
Pointless Champions
After brushing up on our general knowledge, Jonny and I made the journey to London for our day of filming. Amongst the production team, our reputation had preceded us, and we were given a warmer welcome than we could have hoped for. We were picked for the first filming session of the day and were first up to answer.
“Hi, I’m Ben, this is Jonny, and we're heterosexual life partners from Newcastle.”
It’s hard to imagine how it could have gone better for us. As English Literature graduates, we were perfectly placed to get through the first round on the authors of books. As fans of Elvis Presley, I scored 3 points with Burning Love, while Jonny got a Pointless answer with Rock-a-Hula Baby, as obscure an answer as you could imagine.
As lowest scorers, we went first in the head-to-head, winning 2-1 in a ding-dong battle that earned us our coveted Pointless trophies and a chance at the unexciting £1,250 jackpot. But by that point who cared about the money. It was all about the experience of winning and getting our coveted trophies.
When asked by Alexander Armstrong, “What do you want to come up in the final?” We answered music, film, or as Jonny so excellently added, “just any genre”.
That made us 1 point off four pointless answers in one episode; a feat that has rarely been achieved. Alas, we got three pointless answers, and barely past noon, we emerged into the light of the afternoon sun as newly crowned Pointless champions, celebrating the greatest victory since Helm’s Deep.
Unfortunately, my future gameshow exploits did not go as smoothly or successfully as Pointless, but I shall save those stories for another day. There is no need to tarnish a story of victory with the sour and lamentable taste of a story of defeat… well, two stories of defeat...
Call to Action!
Think of some goals you would like to achieve in your future. Dream big or small and set your sights on things that you would like to achieve, even if they may seem out of reach. For me, the goal of appearing on Pointless spiralled into the goal of appearing on the 4 main channels in the UK, while wearing the exact same green shirt. There is no knowing where you will end up, but you can start moving in the right direction today and set your course for a great victory!
This blog was written as part of a 90-day blog writing fundraiser for Live Well with Cancer, a volunteer-led charity serving North Tyneside and the surrounding areas. If you enjoyed this blog, please show your appreciation by donating to my JustGiving page. Every penny raised from donations or sales of the journal will help deliver workshops, events and support groups that empower better health and wellbeing for those affected by cancer, including family, friends, carers, and healthcare workers.
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