Lauren Laverne reveals unfortunate Pointless coincidence following PM departure

Lauren Laverne has revealed an unfortunate coincidence during her first stint as Pointless co-host, in which the show’s contestants were asked about the tenure of UK prime ministers.

The episode of the popular daytime game show aired on Thursday, the same day PM Liz Truss announced her resignation, though the show had been pre-recorded.

On the show, contestants were asked for answers relating to “British prime ministers who served for two years or longer”.

Sharing the news on Thursday, Laverne wrote: My first category on #Pointless: British PMs and how long they lasted.

“Just to flag, we pre-recorded the programme.”

Elsewhere other famous faces reacted to the news of Ms Truss’s departure from Downing Street following a chaotic week in Westminster.

Irish pop duo Jedward pointed out that they had been contestants on X Factor, longer than Ms Truss had been in office.

Appearing to poke fun at the former PM, comedian Joe Lycett tweeted: “@trussliz omg just heard there’s a leadership election nxt week????? u shud run babe youd be perfect!!”

Lycett made headlines in September when he jokingly claimed on the first episode of the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg that he was “very right-wing” and felt “reassured” following Ms Truss’s live interview in the studio before she was announced as Tory leader.

Comedian Stephen Fry also expressed concern about who would succeed Ms Truss in the role.

“No @BorisJohnson no no no no no NO!” he wrote.

“Under absolutely no circumstances. Ever. Ever ever ever, d’you hear?”

News of Ms Truss’s departure also came a day before the airing of the final regular episode of topical news programme Mock The Week, though producers confirmed the show would not be re-recorded.