Richard Osman looking forward to being able to watch Pointless as a punter

Richard Osman has said it is going to be “lovely” to watch someone else filling his seat on Pointless so he can play along and guess the answers.

The TV presenter and author, 51, announced in April that he is leaving after nearly 13 years, having co-hosted the BBC One gameshow alongside Alexander Armstrong since it debuted in 2009.

He said he has filmed his last episodes for the daytime series already as he commented on the “amazing people” replacing him on the show.

Asked what it was going to be like to watch someone else do the job on Pointless, he told BBC Breakfast: “Do you know what? It’s actually going to be lovely.

“I’m the only person in Britain who doesn’t really get to play along with Pointless because I’m sitting there with the answer and I know I’ve got to talk about the scores and all that stuff.

“I think the new ones are going be on quite soon, I’ve filmed my last ones already.

“The idea that I can watch and actually play along and guess at the answers… they’ve got amazing, amazing people replacing me, so I’m really looking forward to it.”

Osman will continue to host future series of Pointless Celebrities, the BBC said in May, as well as still hosting BBC Two show, Richard Osman’s House of Games.

Armstrong will be joined by a host of guest presenters with names confirmed so far including Sally Lindsay, Alex Brooker, Lauren Laverne, Stephen Mangan, Konnie Huq and Ed Gamble.

Armstrong previously said of the line-up: “This is going to be such a ride!

“Richard will still be in once a week on Saturdays to make sure everything’s ticking over nicely, but otherwise it’s just me bringing new Pointless friends in and showing them the ropes.

“Loads of new and fun personalities on the desk next to me. I can’t wait.”

Pointless sees members of the public competing for a cash prize by finding correct but obscure answers to four rounds of general knowledge questions.

Osman told BBC Breakfast’s Sally Nugent: “I’ve done it for 12 years. I love it, I love Alexander, I love working with him.

“The books are taking me around the world, that is the truth, I have to sort of put all my efforts into it.

“And so I was going to get to the stage where I wasn’t going to be able to put enough effort into it.

“And you know, if you’re making a TV show, you’ve got to give 100% of yourself the whole time. And I sort of thought, I don’t know if I’ve got the time to do it.

“So I felt I’ll let other people have a go with it and get on with the books.”

His debut novel, The Thursday Murder Club, was published in 2020 and became a bestseller, with global film rights bought by Steven Spielberg’s production company Amblin Entertainment.

The book follows a group of pensioners at a retirement village who investigate unsolved crimes.

A sequel, The Man Who Died Twice, was published last year.

Osman will also be seen on the BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are? in an episode airing on June 9.