Filming for a single one-hour episode of Lee Mack’s quiz show The 1% Club takes a whopping seven hours.
That’s among the behind-the-scenes revelations made by a contestant who went out in the second round last Saturday night.
Kyle Talbot, age 27, also claims that producers place contestants strategically in order to engineer a better show.
A 1% Club celebrity special appears to be on the cards, although Lee hasn’t spilled many beans about it yet. In the meantime, here’s what Kyle said about what it was like to take part in the show.
Filming for seven hours and strategic seating of 1% Club contestants
A contestant on Lee Mack’s new quiz show, The 1% Club, spoke to the Daily Mail about what it was like to apply for and compete on the program.
Filming for his episode reportedly took seven hours, including a performance by a warm-up comedian whose job was to help everyone feel comfortable.
Editors then distilled those seven hours down to a single 60-minute episode.
For comparison, a 45-minute episode of 8 Out Of 10 Cats apparently takes about two hours to film. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? episodes, meanwhile, are shot concurrently, so a single episode can take a week – but a whole season doesn’t take much longer.
Kyle told the Mail that he thinks producers place contestants next to each other strategically, so as to create opportunities for humour.
He gave the example that he’s from Grimsby, while the person next to him was from Wrexham. The two towns have a football rivalry, meaning the contestants’ adjacency made for “a good laugh”.
Laughs with Lee Mack and a ‘disco’ atmosphere on set
Lee Mack, of whom Kyle said he was “quite a big fan”, reportedly came across as “polite, a good laugh and kind of what you want him to be in a way”.
He said it was a great experience to be on set with him during filming.
During a break, music played and contestants had the opportunity to let off steam by dancing along. Kyle used the word “disco” to describe the atmosphere, and noted that Lee joined in the fun.
All in all, it was a surreal but enjoyable experience, Kyle said, despite his early elimination.
Hoping to apply and take part? Kyle recommends watching the show to familiarise yourself with it. But don’t overthink or over prepare, as it’ll likely be time wasted.
The 1% Club is on Saturday February 22 at 8.25pm on ITV1.
Read more: Lee Mack’s ill-advised joke about jungle winner Jill Scott amid calls for him to be ‘cancelled’
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