Ben Shephard was left amused during a rerun of Tipping Point: Lucky Stars after Henry Blofeld appeared to pull off a particularly “sly” move during a tense question round.
The Sunday episode brought together comedian Joe Lycett, cricket commentator Henry Blofeld and Pussycat Dolls singer Melody Thornton, with all three celebrities competing to win as much money as possible for their chosen charities.
As expected, Joe provided plenty of entertainment from the moment he arrived. During his introduction, the comedian even showed off a pair of boxer shorts he had made featuring Ben Shephard’s face sewn onto them.
But the laughs soon gave way to some serious competition once the game got underway.
Tipping Point: Ben Shephard jokingly scolded Henry for his (Image: ITV)
Melody takes a gamble
In the opening round, each celebrity was given three counters for the Tipping Point machine. Before they could use them, however, they first had to answer questions correctly.
Melody got the first question right but made a bold decision by passing it over to Joe.
The gamble paid off for the comedian, as one of his counters dropped through the machine and earned him his first £100.
Henry was also in impressive form, quickly building a £900 prize fund and putting the pressure on his fellow contestants.
Joe soon managed to close the gap, while Melody struggled to keep pace. Although the singer eventually added £300 to her prize fund, it was not enough to keep her in the competition.
That left Joe and Henry to battle it out for a place in the final.
Joe gets caught out by a tricky question
The second round introduced another twist.
If a contestant did not know the answer to a question, they could pass it to their opponent. But there was a catch: if the opponent answered correctly, they would receive a counter to use in the Tipping Point machine.
Joe soon found himself facing a particularly difficult question about the human body.
Ben asked: “What organ of the human body is the tympanum located?”
Clearly unsure, Joe joked about the unfamiliar word.
“The tympanum? ‘Oh, I’ve got a pain in my tympanum’,” he quipped.
Henry then appeared to give the impression that he knew exactly where the tympanum was located.
“Shall I rub it for you?” Henry joked.
Ben immediately burst out laughing, while Joe admitted that Henry’s confidence had influenced his decision.
“I don’t know, but I feel like he does so I am going to have a stab at it,” Joe said.
Joe eventually answered “lungs” — but it was incorrect.
Ben catches Henry out
With the question now passed to Henry, Ben asked whether he knew where the tympanum could be found.
“So, Henry had Joe passed this over would you have any ideas where you’d find the tympanum?” Ben asked.
But Henry simply replied: “No!”
The unexpected response left both Ben and Joe gasping.
Realising that Henry had appeared to make Joe believe he knew the answer, Ben jokingly called him out.
“You sly old dog,” the presenter said, before adding: “I love it.”
The moment quickly became one of the lighter highlights of the tense contest, with Ben and Joe seeing the funny side of Henry’s cheeky strategy.
Joe makes it to the final
The competition remained extremely close as the second round continued, but Joe eventually managed to edge past Henry and secure his place in the final.
Despite encountering several hurdles along the way, the comedian held his nerve when it mattered and ultimately walked away with £20,000 for his chosen charity.
Tipping Point airs weekdays at 4pm on ITV.