Richard Osman has admitted to pining for his wife Ingrid Oliver one year before they met on his quiz show House of Games.
The former Pointless presenter, 54, said he was “instantly smitten” with the actor and comedian who appeared on the celebrity game show in 2021 – and had been holding a flame for her before their first interaction.
“I was aware of Ingrid from social media and thought she was very funny, but beyond a single tweet we’d never communicated,” he told The Times. Osman asked their mutual friend Lou Sanders if the actor, known for playing Petronella Osgood in Doctor Who, was available at the time, but she wasn’t.
“Twelve months later, in 2021, Ingrid was a guest on my quiz show House of Games,” he said. “This time Lou told me Ingrid was available, so I spent a long day in front of the cameras desperately trying not to flirt.’
He continued: “Unlike most couples, though, I do have a record of the first thing I ever said to my soulmate: ‘I’m looking for two rhyming answers. A musical instrument filled with rice played by shaking, and the capital of Venezuela.’
“Ingrid buzzed in – ‘Maracas and Caracas.’ I was instantly smitten.” Osman said he “got her phone number that night and we’ve been in each other’s pockets ever since”.
The TV star, who has two children in their twenties from a previous relationship, had never been married prior to his relationship with Oliver. The couple moved in together a few months after they met and married the following year in what he called “the best day of my life”.
Oliver told The Times that she was aware Osman had asked their mutual friend whether she was single.
“Even then – and I don’t want to sound stalkerish – I had an inkling we’d get together later,” she said.
“I love House of Games, so I was excited to appear on the show. We knew we liked each other by that point so it was sort of, ‘Oh my God, this is actually happening.’ I remember feeling slightly sick and trying not to flirt; no one wants to see that.”
Having worked behind the scenes on shows including Channel 4’s 8 out of 10 Cats, Osman shot to wider fame after pitching the idea for Pointless, which he hosted alongside his university friend Alexander Armstrong. The show was a success when it launched in 2009 and Osman co-presented it for 1,300 episodes before leaving in 2022. In 2017, he started hosting House of Games.
Osman has become renowned for his bestselling mystery novels, starting with The Thursday Murder Club, which was released in 2019. The book has been adapted into a Netflix film, which will be released on 28 August. It’s produced by Steven Spielberg and directed by Chris Columbus.
