Why is he famous?

[Lorne Malvo]

There are a lot of celebrities that I don't like, or am completely indifferent to, but I can at least understand why they're popular - maybe they appeal to a different demographic, or they are talented but just don't appeal to me, etc. For example, I'm not a massive fan of Graham Norton but can understand that the majority of people like his show, so fair enough. Or I might hate Lewis Capaldis music but I'm obviously not his target audience.

Who are those celebrities that are so rubbish that you just don't understand how they got to the position they're in?

For me, Alan Titchmarsh is right up there.

He's just rubbish! Firstly, his gardening shows are absolutely fine if you're into that sort of thing*, but Titchmarsh is always the most boring part of them. Then somehow he inexplicably wormed his way into getting a Paul O'Grady esque ITV chatshow, but just isn't cut out for the format at all. He can't finish a sentence / question without trailing off into a dozen non sequiturs, all of his attempts at humour miss the mark and he seems half asleep most of the time.

I didn't like Parkinson or Tony Blackburn but can understand they might have a certain charm or twinkle in their eye that might appeal to the old 'uns out there. But I just find Titchmarsh utterly charmless and inadequate as a broadcaster. Utter shite.

Which celebrities level of fame do you find puzzling? 

*they have Frances Tophill on so how bad can they be?

[Arch Stanton]

Fair enough if you don't like him, bit if you look into his background within the horticultural world it's not difficult to see why he'd be given roles on TV as an expert in the field and in turn, why he became famous.

[Gus Mears]

I quite like Titchmarsh. He's as interesting as wallpaper paste, but early 00's Groundforce was quality viewing.

[Chico Torres]

I’m on Team Monty Don. 

[Mr_Danger]

I don’t mind Titchmarsh. He’s just about the right side of Partridge and although I’ll almost never watch more than 30 seconds of anything he’s on it still gives me a sense of reassurance to see him knocking about.

[gmoney]

I find gardening programming so dull I doubt I've seen him on telly cumulatively for more than five minutes. He looks like Richard Littlejohn's slightly less cunty brother. 

[air_raid]

I thought this was going to be about “influencers.”

[davertfnewman]

A lot of people who are on TV that don't do much for anyone are generally reliable, don't have personal problems, work hard, can turn it on when they need to, get it done first time without saying fuck or bugger, have good timing and hit the mark. Someone like Tony Blackburn, who was on a fly-on-the-wall documentary years ago produced by Louis Theroux called The Entertainers, said that he said yes to every job because you don't know when the work is going to dry up, so he was on as much as he could be being cheesy and lame but getting it done, same as Titchmarsh does.

[Tim Healys Chutney Spoon]

Also as well the demographic for his Sunday morning chat show isn't probably the same as those thet would frequent a wrestling forum...

 

A lot of my residents like his gentle little chats on the farm with soft and gentle guests in an easy going programme rather some of the more 'loud' programmes on TV of a similar genre. 

[TheBurningRed]

My mum used to read his novels and said they were quite smutty. 

[SuperBacon]

11 minutes ago, TheBurningRed said:

My mum used to read his novels and said they were quite smutty. 

Not surprised with that surname.

Edit: he's written over 70 books!!!

Edited August 17 by SuperBacon
Prolific

[davertfnewman]

17 minutes ago, TheBurningRed said:

My mum used to read his novels and said they were quite smutty. 

Promising parliamentarian, then. Alistair Campbell made his start writing dirty stories for magazines, which Mark Thomas brought to light in the late nineties, and I always remember this conversation between Bob Mills and Bill Weeks, an advocate for battery hen farming, on the long-lost Bob Mills Show:

Weeks: "Who first talked to us about salmonella?"

Millsy: "Edwina Currie"

Weeks: "Yeah, and she writes soft porn novels!"

[Chili]

I'll hear nothing bad about Tony Blackburn, he's Partridgian cadence of chatter is always funny, but it's the lack of self awareness mixed with obviously being a very nice chap that makes him very likeable. Plus unlike a lot of the horrid monsters who used to host TOTP in the 70's he clearly actually enjoyed music. His championing of Northern Soul and black artists for example.

Great man, outstanding autobiography, funnier than he'll ever understand he is.

[deathrey]

Jeremy Clarkson - likes to talk about himself a lot so not a great presenter, comes across as smug and self important and thoroughly unlikeable. Given he's a presenter, that kind of goes against the whole point of him.

[Chili]

16 minutes ago, deathrey said:

Jeremy Clarkson - likes to talk about himself a lot so not a great presenter, comes across as smug and self important and thoroughly unlikeable. Given he's a presenter, that kind of goes against the whole point of him.

He's a cunt, but I always point to any documentaries he's done that aren't about cars and the subject matter means he can't steer it to him and he's actually alright. Frustrating, because he really is such an arsehole especially an opinion writer in shit newspapers.