Do we like Richard Osman?
Our score: 8 out of 10. Decent record, no harmful words or company found, and a quick apology over Wallace; the political record is thin.
The nearest thing to a scandal is a mistake he owned. In 2024 he defended Gregg Wallace when the MasterChef host was mocked online for being boring, saying everyone he asked had nice things to say. When allegations of sexual misconduct against Wallace emerged, Osman opened his podcast with a mea culpa and said “I apologise for that.” An apology isn't a free pass, but this was about a pal-of-the-industry misread, with no pattern behind it.
On the harm check, we found no harmful words or campaigning from him. In 2014 he publicly stood up for a Pointless contestant copping nasty comments online, telling viewers they could stop watching if they didn't like it. The gap is that nothing turned up on his views on climate or immigration, so this is a pass on what's on the record, not a deep dive on every issue.
His recent news is mostly career. In March he said on his podcast he would “gladly hand over the keys” of House of Games to a new host. In June he told listeners that Steven Bartlett's wellness content felt like “an accident waiting to happen” for the BBC, which is opinion about another broadcaster, not a smear.
The good stuff is quieter than most. He collected an OBE for services to literature and broadcasting, and afterwards said he was proud of being from Britain and that the country paid for his education. He called the honour “a responsibility more than an honour”, which is a fair way to take it.
So: no court cases, no allegations against him, no dodgy company turned up, and a quick apology when he got a call wrong. He has also talked about class in a way that suggests he knows where he came from. Not a campaigner, but a decent bloke who writes cosy murders.