'Pointless' Hosts Alexander Armstrong And Richard Osman Swap Roles For 1000th Episode, Freaking Everyone Out In The Process

‘Pointless’ hosts Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman upset the balance of the universe on Monday (16 January), when they swapped roles on the show. 

Shock horror!

The pair decided to mark the BBC quiz show’s 1000th episode by having Richard present the whole thing standing up, with Alexander taking his co-host’s usual place behind the desk. 

And while it may seem like only a minor change, regular ‘Pointless’ viewers were totally freaked out by it:

Even Richard himself found the whole thing rather unsettling to watch: 

The pair had decided it would be funnier not to reference the swap on screen, and presented the show as if it was a completely natural occurrence.

Speaking to the Radio Times ahead of the 1000th episode airing, Alexander admitted it was “nice sitting down for once,” but added that  “it did feel weird.”

“And it was enjoyable standing up,” Richard agreed.

“It was fantastic fun, but strange. I had done the show so often that I sort of thought I knew what Zander did. But it was so difficult doing his role that it confirmed to me that we are in the right positions. I had to keep turning to him and saying, ‘What’s the thing you say now?’”

Rest assured, normal service will resume with episode 1001. 

‘Pointless’ airs weekdays at 5.15pm on BBC One.