BBC The Weakest Link fury as fans 'switch off' festive special over 'Z-list' celebrity line-up

BBC The Weakest Link fury as fans 'switch off' festive special over 'Z-list' celebrity line-up

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BBC
Alex Davies

By Alex Davies


Published: 24/12/2023

- 10:16

Updated: 24/12/2023

- 10:51

Romesh Ranganathan welcomed eight famous faces to the show on Saturday

This year's The Weakest Link Christmas special hasn't gone down well with several viewers following its broadcast on Saturday, December 23.

While a number of viewers were left scratching their heads at the brainteasers, it appears others were similarly dumbfounded as to who the actual celebrity contestants were.


Comedian Romesh Ranganathan was back in the host's spot made famous by Anne Robinson and introduced viewers to this year's crop of celebs.

Among the line-up was The One Show host Alex Jones, Call the Midwife's Cliff Parisi, and Loose Woman Coleen Nolan.

They were joined by comedian Dane Baptiste, Married at First Sight's Mel Schilling, drag queen Danny Beard, ventriloquist Paul Zerdin and winner of The Traitors, Meryl Williams.

Within moments of the stars being unveiled, social media was awash with viewers' perplexed reactions over the calibre of celebs the BBC could get hold of.

Romesh Ranganathan

Romesh Ranganathan returned to host the festive episode

BBC

"What a Z-List lineup for a Christmas special! #TheWeakestLink," one person fumed on X, formerly Twitter.

A second agreed: "My god #TheWeakestLink are scraping the barrell celebrity wise lol. I recognize like 2 of them."

Meanwhile, a third hit out: "Am I the only person who thinks this was a much better show when members of the public answered the questions instead of so called ‘celebrities’? #TheWeakestLink."

But it wasn't just the calibre of famous faces which divided opinion as when the quizzing began, their brainpower similarly left plenty to be desired.

The Weakest Link festive special line-up

The Weakest Link festive special line-up has been slammed

BBC

Another critic slammed: "What’s worse is this show has the easiest questions on any quiz show I’ve seen, yet the celebs still don’t know the bl**dy answers, how they function as humans I don’t know #TheWeakestLink."

Elsewhere, a fellow viewer commented: "#TheWeakestLink What a useless embarrassing bunch of contestants. Worst lot I’ve ever seen. I’m reaching for the off button."

And another weighed in: "Do they go out of their way to find the most stupid celebrities for these Christmas quizzes? #TheWeakestLink." (sic)

As the quizzing commenced, the eight celebs were soon whittled down to just two with Baptiste and Jones facing off in the final.

Dane Baptiste

Dane Baptiste won this year's festive The Weakest Link

BBC

After a series of rounds, the pair were playing for £8,000 the team had banked.

Baptiste emerged victorious and decided to donate his prize money to the charity Black Minds Matter UK.

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