Ainsley Harriott can’t stop winning (Picture: ITV)
Ainsley Harriott is the frontrunner in a Christmas battle, but it’s unlikely he even knows that he entered.
The contest he has unknowingly entered is the ‘Bookee prize,’ which was dreamt up by an iconic TV enthusiast.
Nick Walker has compiled a list of which celebrities are making the most appearances on the small screen over the festive period – hence the clever name – he has shared a detailed spreadsheet on X, formerly Twitter and is keeping the results constantly updated.
He has even taken the time to explain the rules to his followers so we can all play along.
For each programme that a celebrity appears on between December 23 and Jan 1, they earn one point. There are zero points awarded for repeats, talking head jobs, or if they are a regular host or contributor to the series. However, if it’s standalone or special which is not connected to the main series then they get one point.
Nick kindly provided an example to help us understand – Noel Edmonds would get one point for Noel’s Christmas Presents, but zero if it was a Noel’s House Party Christmas special.
Ainsley impressed The Masked Singer’s judges (Picture: ITV)
Five days into the competition, Ainsley, 66, is running away with the top title. He’ll have another trophy to add to his packed cabinet (this is metaphorical of case as there is no physical prize, that we know of) as he also won The Masked Singer.
Dressed as a Partridge (in a pear tree) he belted out Holly Jolly Christmas by Michael Bublé. Judges Leona Lewis, Jonathan Ross, Rita Ora, Davina McCall, and Mo Gilligan then had to guess who was hiding behind the mask, and they thought it was everyone from Jamie Oliver to Alan Titchmarsh.
So far Ainsley has racked up three points on Blankety Blank, Ainsley’s Festive Flavours, and of course, the aforementioned ITV singing competition.
Ainsley popped up on Blankety Blank’s Christmas special (Picture: BBC)
Ainsley had his own festive cooking show on Christmas day (Picture: ITV)
Hot on his heels are multiple stars who are sitting at a total of two. Comedian Katherine Ryan showed up on Blankety Blank too and was a competitor on Big Fat Quiz of the Year, while singer Adam Lambert has done both Royal Carols: Together at Christmas, and Britain Get Singing.
Also joining them with two points are Tom Allen, AJ Odudu, Carol Vorderman, Katherine Jenkins, Roman Kemp, Aled Jones, Brian Conley, Gregory Porter, Jane McDonald, Keisha Buchanan, Kevin Bridges, Marisha Wallace, Mo Gilligan, Russell Watson, and Stephen Fry.
There are a fair few stars who have only just got off the starting blocks with one – their agents need to be working harder, or they will be getting coal for Christmas next year.
Many celebrities are currently at two points (Picture: Channel 4)
Jonathan was champion in 2022 (Picture: ITV/Shutterstock)
Historian Dan Snow, EastEnders actor Jamie Borthwick, and rugby player Danny Cipriani have one for their Strictly Come Dancing efforts, while Pussycat Doll Kimberley Wyatt and Ru Paul’s Drag Race contestant Kitty Scott-Claus managed to get on the list for competing on The Hit List. Last year’s joint champions presenter Jonathan, and comedian Judi Love are both only on one point each for Britain Get Singing and The Wheel respectively.
We’ll see if anyone can take down the King of Christmas TV over the next five days – this is more tense than Wimbledon!
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He’s done it again!