Top News

One contestant who appeared on The Wheel revealed what Russell T Davies is really like in real life. The hit BBC One game show sees members of the public attempt to win cash prizes with the help of a rotating panel of celebrity guests. Each episode places a contestant at the centre of a giant spinning wheel, surrounded by seven celebrities, each of whom is an expert in a different topic such as music, food, sport and history.

The wheel spins to choose which celebrity will help answer the next question and the contestant must answer as many correctly to build up the prize pot. Jess Smith appeared on the show in 2024 and was joined by celebrity stars Russell, AJ Odudu, William Hanson, Bash the Entertainer, Harry Redknapp, Lucy Beaumont and Deborah Meaden.

Although Jess wasn't able to meet the celebrity guests off-camera, she happened to bump into the Doctor Who writer by chance when the cameras weren't rolling.

Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk on behalf of Slots Temple, Jess described the 62-year-old as "lovely" as she recalled the kind words he said to her behind-the-scenes.

She said: "We didn't get to meet the celebs, but I got really lucky as I bumped into Russell T Davies by chance in the corridor. I think he was leaving as he had another job in the afternoon, so I bumped into him when I went to the bathroom.

"He held my hand and said I was amazing. We had a bit of a natter. He was even more lovely in real life. But he's so tall, he was like a giant. He was really sweet and really kind."

On what surprised her about the experience, Jess added: "The set was much bigger than I expected, it was just a much larger scale. It was humungous. But apart from that, it was very true to the show, which is nice because it's like what you see is what you get."

Despite not meeting the celebrity guests properly, she spent enough time with host Michael McIntyre to get a sense of what he is really like as a person.

"He was exactly the same when the cameras weren't rolling. He just carried on, he was chatting to all the celebs and the contestants. It was nice because it felt really genuine," Jess remarked.