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Meet the man who can't stop competing on games shows



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Published Date: 20 November 2008
WHEN Stuart Craig applied to go on TV game show Supermarket Sweep "for a laugh", he didn't even expect to be picked.
He did get chosen, though, and the experience led to him catching the game show bug – the shopping challenge was to be the first of seven TV quiz appearances the 34-year-old has made so far.

The football coach at Gracemount leisure centre, Mr Craig has just returned from Argentina, where he was a contestant in a game show called Total Wipeout.

After auditions in Glasgow two months ago, he was selected to be one of 20 people flown to Buenos Aires to battle it out against an extreme obstacle course.

He won't give away how well he did in the competition, which is due to be screened on BBC1 in the coming months, but he said: "It was absolutely incredible, I really enjoyed it.

"The competition was the most gruelling thing I've ever done, I really pushed myself."

His first TV appearance on Supermarket Sweep two years ago was not a great success. He said: "We didn't do very well, we made a brave effort and came second."

Nonetheless, he applied to go on the lottery show, Who Dares Wins, where he walked away with £12,500.

He didn't splash the cash extravagantly – instead, he paid off his car loan and had his driveway resurfaced – but the win spurred him on to keep entering.

"I wouldn't say that I'm addicted, but I realised, 'hey, this is easy money'," he said.

Since then, he has gone from strength to strength, though he didn't win any more cash at his next attempts. "Probably the low point of my career was Postcode Challenge with Carol Smilie. She was lovely, but we were first to go home. I did The Weakest Link six weeks ago. Anne Robinson said I was a bit tubby for a football coach, but I told her at least all my packaging was real," he said.

He has also appeared on The Kids Are All Right and the forthcoming Who Dares Sings Christmas special.

Wife Laura, 28, a youth worker, has watched him from their Dunbar home with their 20-month-old daughter Anna, and even appeared alongside him on Postcode Challenge. She said: "I'm proud of him for having the guts to do it. I think he would like to be famous."

He plans to give the game show circuit a rest for a little while, though.

"I think there's such a thing as over-exposure," he said.

"People at work are fed up hearing about me being on the telly."


The full article contains 446 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 20 November 2008 10:49 AM
  • Source: Edinburgh Evening News
  • Location: Edinburgh
 
1

Bertie The Bat,

20/11/2008 11:39:13
I'd be fed up hearing about it too.
2

Paranoid John from Midlothian,

20/11/2008 12:24:15
"It's good, but it's not right"
3

alex paterson,

edinburgh 20/11/2008 12:25:16
This guy has very good luck,i am just wishing it was me.
4

I love to eat Sellotape,

20/11/2008 12:41:39
Fortunately for Mr Craig, some new game shows in production are bound to benefit from his enthusiasm:

STRICTLY COME MINCING
Contestants practice fiercely in an attempt to develop the campest walk. With celebrity judges.

THE WEAKEST SINK
Game show which takes place in contestants' kitchens. Their sinks are loaded down with very heavy objects (car transmission, weightlifting set, Fern Britton, etc.) and viewers phone in to guess at what point the countertop will collapse. With celebrity judges.

SNIFF THAT CHEESE!
Blindfolded contestants are given large pieces of gouda, cheddar, Wensleydale, etc. containing various "mystery objects" and asked to identify them through their odour. With celebrity judges.

WHOSE CORPSE IS IT ANYWAY?
People who have been dead for everal years are exhumed; contestants attempt to identify them from dental records and DNA. With celebrity judges.

I'M A CONTESTANT - GET ME INTO THERE!
Contestants are forced into increasingly small objects (economy class airline seat, a kitchen cupboard, catering-size mayonnaise container, HappyMeal carton) until they give up. With celebrity judges.

COUNTUP ... ach, never mind.
5

Forrest,

Livingston 20/11/2008 12:42:26
Those mega-assault course things look like great fun!
6

Cynicaltalk,

20/11/2008 13:00:02
#5

Or how about

ANT and DEC'S SATURDAY FIGHT TAKEAWAY

Contestants are challenged to venture into Edinburgh's many drinking establishments and see who can pull the biggest munter, negotiate their way to a kebab shop and then home. Whilst being hunted by Derek Riordan and his team of crack henchmen.

TEAL OR NO TEAL.

Contestants are challenged to decorate a bathroom, with points awarded for the best colour.

BIG MOTHER

Similar concept to Ant and Dec format, but contestants must go upstairs at the Cavendish and pull the oldest person they can find. Riordan will be called off due to the reduced physical mobility and results of black russians.

7

My opinions count for more than yours,

because I'm special 20/11/2008 13:01:46
HOLE IN THE WALL
A game show in which spandex-clad celebrities squeeze themselves through oddly-shaped holes in a gigantic, moving polystyrene wall. With Dale Winton.
8

I love to eat Sellotape,

20/11/2008 13:08:19
COUNTUP
Contestants are required to count forward from a randomly-selected whole number (suggested by a member of the studio audience). The first one to lose track is shot in the back of the head with a rivet gun. With celebrity judges.

UNIVERSITY CHALICE
Contestants celebrate the Eucharist over and over again at an institution of higher education. The last one standing, or to regurgitate any communion wafers, wins. With celebrity judges.

SLAM YOUR HAM
[comment removed]
9

Guddle,

Edinburgh 20/11/2008 13:17:05
#9

BRING ON THE WALL!
10

Wee Keef,

20/11/2008 13:22:17
I'll play ...

SUPERMARKET SWIPE
Points are awarded to the chav who can get most cans of superlager down his (or her) trackie bottoms and escape from Lidl
11

Cynicaltalk,

20/11/2008 13:23:47

EX FACTOR

Rangers goalkeeper Alan McGregor has to run through Princes St Gardens whilst facing the gauntlet of all his ex birds decked out as Gladiators, but armed with AK47's and rockets.

POSTCODE SNOTTERY

Contestants with very bad colds test the various levels of care at their local GP's surgery, with the best NHS Trust being given a bottle of domestos to help with the war on super bugs.

12

Cynicaltalk,

20/11/2008 13:29:56
WHO WANTS TO BE CHAMILLIONIARE

Contestants from Joppa get decked out in da hood to emulate the US rapper. The person who busts a cap in the ass of the most homie mo fo's wins a nissan micra.

SOAPDODGER SUPERSTAR

Contestants from Glasgow compete to see who can go the longest without a wash. The winner gets their giro paid for a year.
13

Cynicaltalk,

20/11/2008 13:32:47

STRIKE IT BUCKIE

Michael Barrymore is brought back into prime time TV with this radical concept. 15 neds are given 10 mins to down as many bottles of tonic wine as possible. They must then jump into a pool and complete 20 lengths whilst being pursued by Barrymore.

Slow day at work, can you tell?
14

I love to eat Sellotape,

20/11/2008 13:35:17
THROUGH THE EARHOLE
A miniature camera is inserted into a celebrity's ear canal. Contestants are afforded glimpses of the incus, malleus, tympanic membrane, and so forth and use these to determine whose ear it is.

GLAD HE ATE HERS
Married couples are each given two meals. The man must eat the woman's meal in addition to his own. There isn't much point to the game, but it's presented by Dale Winton.

STRICTLY DANCE COMING
[comment removed]
15

Cynicaltalk,

20/11/2008 13:45:20

THIS MOURNING

Fly on the wall game show looking at how various contestants cope with the grief of death. The one who cracks up the most wins.

THE WHITE STUFF

Contestants are given the nostrils and septum of various different cocaine ravaged celebs, and must link the celeb with correct nose.

FAMILY FOUR TUNES

Karaoke based show where 4 generations of the same family (most likely from Niddrie, and under 30) must sing songs from their era in the form of a cruise ship entertainer. Points awarded.
16

Cynicaltalk,

20/11/2008 13:48:20

LOOSE WOMEN

5 munters sit around a table moaning about men....oh hang on, i'm watching ITV 2.
17

Cynicaltalk,

20/11/2008 13:53:38

WHO'S WINE IS IT ANYWAY

Contestants must make their way to Hunters Square and steal booze from a jaikey. Fellow contestants must then decide who, out of the line up of jaikeys, inflicted the fatal blow.

HASH IN THE ATTIC

Contestants compete to see who can cultivate the biggest cannabis harvest whilst evading arrest from the Feds.
18

Cynicaltalk,

20/11/2008 13:57:58

SONGS OF MALAISE

Contestants must wear a wooly jumper and sing hymns in as tired a manner as possible.

SHOCK THE GEEK

Dara O'Briein returns in this radical gameshow where contestants must burst into the SCI FI dept of Waterstones and tazer as many bespectacled boys (and their virtual friends) as possible.

19

Marathon,

20/11/2008 14:11:32
The Edinburgh Tram Gameshow.

You go on, pay your "council tax" and then leave. Everybody goes home empty handed.

20

Marathon,

20/11/2008 14:13:23
Whose LINE is it anyway?

Contestants try to work out who will pay for Tram Line 1B.

21

Edinburghs Finest,

20/11/2008 14:21:20
Looking at Mr Craigs "Wacky " Picture above it appears that he has won a years supply of chavvy Nike clothes on one show... perhaps The Prize is Nike...
22

Cynicaltalk,

20/11/2008 14:45:03

You'd think with his impending z list celeb status he would've bought a plasma tv and done something with those walls.
23

Decent,

20/11/2008 15:04:16
You win sellotape - I especially liked COUNT UP.
Nearly peed ma pants at that one.
24

Mallory,

Edinburgh 20/11/2008 15:28:10
Celebrity pet chefs

Six z-list personalities rustle up a quick meal for the guest's pet. Viewers phone in to select a winners aided by a couple of cheap has-been TV presenters.

The final series winner gets to cook and eat the pet of their choice..
25

I love to eat Sellotape,

20/11/2008 15:31:38
THE ANT-CHEEKS ROADSHOW
Contestants bring a favourite small social insect to a country house and exhibit its hind quarters. The insect is then given a value (purely for insurance purposes).

JIM'LL FIX IT
Jimmy Saville sorts out a few randy cats.

VETS IN THEORY
Quiz show about veterarians.

NEVER MIND THE SHUTTLECOCKS
Pro-celebrity badminton. With Dale Winton.








26

I love to eat Sellotape,

20/11/2008 16:05:07
NAME THE PHEASANTS
Contestants are locked in a room full of pheasants and must give them all names.

GREASE BEN FOGLE
Contestants cover Ben Fogle with a selection of lubricants and compete to be the first to slide him across a long metal corridor.

CATHOLIC OR THEROPOD?
Contestants are shown pictures of various Catholics and bi-pedal dinosaurs of the family Saurischia. They must place each in the proper category.

EAT THAT ARK!
Contestants must build an ark out of a specified comestible (e.g., pork roast, lasagne, rice pudding) and fit a selection of animals inside it. When the animals are removed, the ark must be eaten. (With subtitles for the visually impaired.)

SMELL MY PYJAMAS
Contestants rub their pyjamas against a pungently-scented object and invite the oppositition to identify what the object is.

PUSH STEVEN HAWKING OUT OF HIS WHEELCHAIR
With Steven Hawking.

THE DOUGHNUT GAME
Celebrity chefs make doughnuts and feed them to corpulent working-class people.

SEWERAGE FARM ATTENDANT FOR A DAY
Contestants answer questions about effluent for the chance to run a real sewerage farm for a day. With celebrity judges.

DON'T TELL THE COPPERS
Hardened criminals compete to reveal as much of their shady past as possible without revisiting prison.









27

Decent,

20/11/2008 16:10:36
Sellotape - You took that too far.
Mario - What kind of dreams do you have?
28

I love to eat Sellotape,

20/11/2008 16:46:03
40.

You're right. I'm, as they say, "very, very sorry for what happened.".
29

Kirsty Boyd-Williamson,

Dale Winton's bra. 20/11/2008 17:12:05
Mario & Sellotape
Thank you. Huge fun.
30

Decent,

20/11/2008 18:49:58
41 - It's ok you made me laugh.
42 - Have you sought help for this? The bunny rabbits are especially worrying.
44 - Didn't think you had fun just looked down your nose at nice old woman in Lidl's.
31

Kirsty Boyd-Williamson,

New Town 20/11/2008 20:54:53
>45: Decent ~ My life is huge fun as I have many interests and an excellent income from my businesses and investments to support them.
32

Seth Bottomley,

Bhutan 21/11/2008 12:37:52
BASQUE THE FAMILY

Robert Robinson, in a figure-hugging bodice, asks suggestive questions of cross-dressing nuclear families.

COCKBUSTERS

Quickfire quiz hosted by a lump hammer-wielding Bob Holnes.


 

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