He lived in an ordinary-looking housing estate
Richard Osman is possibly one of the UK’s most recognisable personalities. The popular TV presenter is best known for hosting Pointless as well as Richard Osman’s House of Games.
He’s an immensely talented TV host and author – and he has close ties to Cambridge that locals might not know about. He was born in Billericay in Essex, growing up in a cul-de-sac housing estate in the residential area.
Mr Osman spent some of his younger years in Essex before moving away to Sussex. But he then came to Cambridge where he studied sociology and politics.
He recently appeared on an episode of JaackMaate’s Happy Hour podcast – hosted by comedian Jack Dean and Stevie White – where he was asked about his background. The hosts asked him ‘what would we do’ if they visited their guest’s birthplace.
He replied: “I left when I was quite young. Every five years or so – because I love darts and snooker – I always pitch something to Barry Hearn. I’m always asking if he’s thought about something. He’s always very nice and invites me up. So I went up to Brentwood to see him and nothing came of it, as absolutely always.
“On my way back I went back to Billericay and went to the road I grew up in and was born. I’d forgotten that it is called The Chase. That’s obviously the big rival to Pointless.”
Comedian Jack Dean jokingly said: “So you petrol bombed it?”
Osman comically responded that “I think it had already been petrol bombed” before saying he doesn’t know Billericay “very well” but it “looked like they had some nice pubs”.
The Chase is a small cul-de-sac to the east of the town centre where homes sell for around £400,000 according to Rightmove. They are mostly semi-detached homes with a small terrace of three houses.
Later in the podcast episode Mr Osman, who is a co-host of The Rest is Entertainment podcast, briefly discussed his connection to Cambridge and first steps into the TV industry.
He said: “I’ve always loved TV and would always look at the credits to see what jobs there were. But weirdly it never occurred to me that that should be my job. When I left university I saw a thing in a paper saying researchers were wanted for a computer games TV programme. I thought that I’d played games, so I would go for it.
“I went to a comprehensive school and I’m proud I went to Cambridge. The woman interviewing me said ‘how can a person who went to Cambridge make a TV programme for someone in a housing estate in Basildon’. I said I’d grown up in a housing estate a few miles away in Billericay so thought I’d be alright.”
Mr Osman has also featured on Have I Got News For You and in 2017 began hosting his own show Richard Osman’s House of Games. He’s an accomplished author with his Thursday Murder Club series.
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