Do celebrities have preemptive hair transplants? What TV tricks are there to give a fuller head of hair? Bake Off is a British institution but who really makes the professional cakes? And, prop secrets of fake pregnancy tests.
Inside This Episode
- Marina and Richard begin with further discussion of the “mailbag” resulting from last week’s discussion about the Countdown clock and whether it could theoretically go for the full 60 seconds.
- Details of the brand new VIP and AAA podcast subscriptions, unveiled yesterday, are recapped, with hints of what is to come.
- Hair transplants are a major topic, with Marina and Richard agreeing that “everyone’s doing them,” particularly in the TV and sports industries. Public figures like Jimmy Carr, James Nesbitt, and Elon Musk are mentioned as examples of people who have been open about their procedures, or not.
- The conversation moves into specifics about how TV personalities manage hair loss on camera. TV makeup artists use a product called Nanogen to cover any gaps, and it’s explained that hairpieces are very common. Actors sometimes even wear wigs that are identical to their own hair – Richard and Marina explain why.
- A listener’s question about The Great British Bake Off reveals that home economists, not the hosts, create the “perfect” versions of cakes. Hattie Baker is name-checked. It’s noted that the Bake Off tent lacks dishwashers due to noise concerns, so everything is washed by hand.
- They discuss prop faking in TV dramas, such as using tricks like heat or lemon juice to simulate a positive pregnancy test.
- Richard reflects fondly on his time working on Whose Line Is It Anyway?, assuring listeners that all of the improvisation, including the songs, was genuine.
- They answer a question about the authenticity of background dates on First Dates and confirm that all the dates, even the ones in the background, are real.
Media Mentions
Television Shows:
- Countdown
- It’s a Royal Knockout
- The Great British Bake Off
- Saturday Kitchen
- Whose Line Is It Anyway?
- First Dates
Hot Takes
- “Who would have thought, everybody, that when we talked about the Countdown clock, that might be the thing that filled our mailbag more than anything in history?”
- “The Rock, Jason Statham, maybe Jude Law? I mean, that’s it. Okay? And those guys have cornered that bit of the market.”
- “In the pandemic, loads of A-list stars got [hair transplants].”
- “The one thing on TV, you will notice very, very quickly if you are going bald because you have incredibly bright lights shone at you and cameras looking at you from every single angle.”
- “Any contestant who ever comes on a quiz show, [Nanogen] literally changes their lives.”
- “We’re not advising you to go to Turkey because a lot of bad things happen in Turkey as far as I can work out from these clinics that are half the price.”
- “I spoke to the people on Bake Off… You cannot have dishwashers in the tent because they’re so noisy!”
- “The songs [on Whose Line Is It Anyway?] are made up… It’s absolutely phenomenal. It’s like magic. It’s a form of witchcraft.”
- “You’d have things like Hoedown, which Stephen Fry and Colin Mochrie were just like, ‘Oh, please don’t make me do this.’”
- “Every single one of those background dates [on First Dates] are real dates.”
Notable Numbers
- 1,000 dishcloths: the number of dishcloths used during a Bake Off series.
- £50: the amount given to each “background date” on First Dates to spend on their bill.
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