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Celebrity Mastermind Panned by Viewers for 'Abrupt Spice' Flub and Casting Choices

Viewers on X branded the January 12 instalment the "worst 30 minutes in television history" in posts reacting to a Thatcher specialist round and a Mel B gaffe.

Overview

  • The BBC Two quiz aired on January 12 with host Clive Myrie and contestants JB Gill, Susie McCabe, Lucy Shepherd and Richie Anderson.
  • Complaints on social media focused on Susie McCabe selecting Margaret Thatcher as her specialist subject and on questions about who qualifies as a celebrity.
  • Richie Anderson, taking Mel B as his subject, answered "Abrupt Spice" when asked the singer's Spice Girls nickname, prompting on-air correction and ridicule.
  • Tabloid coverage amplified viewer posts describing the episode as "painful" and "cringeworthy," with some calling it the "worst 30 minutes in television history."
  • McCabe won with 18 points, Anderson and Gill tied on 13, and Shepherd finished with seven, and the episode is available on BBC iPlayer.