It's all change for #Pointless1000!

Little did Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman know, way back in 2009 when Pointless began, what a gameshow institution they were starting up. But so it was - and soon Pointless will reach its 1000th show. To mark the occasion, Xander and Richard are swapping places, with Richard behind the host's podium and Xander as his pointless friend.

Richard says:

I'm so delighted that the ridiculous rise and rise of Pointless continues and have loved spending 1,000 episodes alongside my TV husband Xander. Swapping roles was a real treat but let's just say I'm not in a hurry to do it again - Xander's job is much harder than it looks.

 Xander adds:

I can't tell you how exciting this is for Richard and me. I imagine it's probably fairly obvious how much we love making Pointless - but to pass the 1,000th episode mark is a great tribute to a show that so many people work so hard on.

The show has a special jackpot starting at £2500 for charity with £!000 added for any pointless answers, and the contestants include the first ever winners, the couple who won the highest ever jackpot, a team who got three pointless answers in the final, and representatives of celebrity contestants.

I was at this recording, and very good t was too. I'm looking forward to seeing it on screen, some time early in the New Year.