Episode #8.65

Contestant Paul Wilder (appearing under his first name of Leon), mentioned appearing on the series in his 2009 autobiography "My Quest for TV Fame".

Among his observations, Paul recounted: "[Bob Monkhouse] was one of the warmest hosts I had ever met, and he immediately came over to me and said 'Hello'. [...] Bob put us all at ease by saying: 'Just forget about the game and the TV cameras, just imagine you're sitting in your front room and we're just playing a game on our own.'"

Among Paul's other observations were that the episode he appeared on didn't have a studio audience, the sound dubbed on later, and his request for an extra Wipeout paperweight for his mother saw him charged £25 for the privilege.

Paul would later appear in an unpaid role as "himself" in the satirical Channel 4 series Gash (2003), claiming that he was kidnapped and tortured to take part in the show. Paul stated: "As I recorded the monologue I remember thinking that it didn't seem very funny, especially as it sent up one of my favourite hosts, Bob Monkhouse. However, the process of making the sketch was great fun."

During his opening monologue, Bob appears to be looking off camera and reading, possibly trying to see cue cards for his jokes. As he was recording between 4-5 shows a day, needing a prompt for some gags is perhaps to be expected, though rarely as obvious as here.