I must confess, I'm always a bit excited to hear someone who was gunged on Noel's House Party recounting their experience, whether this is during an interview or autobiography.
Today I discovered the second volume of Edwina Currie's diaries, covering the 1990s, and although there was a photo of her (amazing) gunging with the caption "The things we do for votes" there was absolutely no mention of appearing on Noel's House Party in the entries for April 97 (which was disappointing to say the least)
I was wondering whether anyone can recommend autobiographies or interviews where NHP experiences have been discussed. Many of those gunged on the show are no longer with us.
Edwina Currie did do an interview with the Metro where she mentioned her gunging many moons ago. It wasn't much, it just referenced that her colleagues thought that she was a good sport for doing it.
It's rare to find anyone discussing them. The only one I've come across apart from this one was a description provided by Mary Whitehouse in her autobiography from the 1990s (I read it whilst browsing in a bookshop, curious as to whether the gunging got a mention). The appearance was on Noel's Saturday Roadshow (1988-90) the predecessor to NHP.
Not the most 'exciting' subject for a gunging, (a famously prudish anti-smut campaigner aged 80ish at the time) of course, but her account revealed much more about the 'routine'.
From memory, she described being provided with 'pretty' clothes by the company (BBC) and a rough briefing of her role assisting the contestant in the game. She was not told she would be going in the tank (although she herself suspected she would be).
Whitehouse further described the gunge drop as being an almighty 'plop' and being covered in some kind of 'paste' substance. She was rushed off to 'hot baths' by a 'very kind young lady' who appeared to be really shocked that they actually went through with it and helped her wash it off and get dry. Although she was curious about what the gunge was made of the staff would not reveal this to her.
Essentially restored to her original state to go home her only complaint was that her perm had been 'ruined' and her hair flattened and she'd had to have it done again.
For us, certain people getting gunged on TV has a special place in our private mythologies. For the person involved, it's going to be just a footnote.
I've seen little bits online over the years by 'civilians' written in forums and comments etc, that aftercare was basic (like getting a grey 'prison' tracksuit to wear afterwards) and that clothes and shoes would get ruined. Read a rumour about a certain TV presenter sleeping with a Saturday Roadshow contestant who got gunged. One person wishing they'd worn nicer clothes and another saying it was fun memory. The main thing that came up in any forum discussion of NHP seemed to be the guy who got caught wanking on the hidden camera segment.
Annabel Giles has passed away, when did that happen? This is very sad news, although as normal, I am probably years behind the times with my news and information.
I have to say that 'celebs' getting gunged on NHP never really did it for me. The most exciting ones were where the young lady in question was a total unknown or completely unsuspecting.
As for Mary Whitehouse. If you are reading this and don't live in the UK. Mary was a frightful old bat and prude. Her 'clean up television' campaign was aimed at just the smut I liked! Rumour has it she once tried to get Tom and Jerry banned due to the level of violence. I'll bear that in mind next time someone drops a cartoon anvil on my head.
If anyone is interested and has a lot of disposable time on their hands a trip to the Internet Archive might be called for. I might even have a look myself. Once of the young ladies who got gunged (I think she may have been called Charlotte, it's a little hazy now) used to have her own web page with some reminiscences of her experience. However, the pages are long gone. If I can spot them I'll post the links.
Interestingly, I always had a strong suspicion after looking back on these events some of these 'members of the audience' gungings might have been heavily staged and that those involved my have even been actors, but this is all just supposition from a cynical old man.
Dessert_Trolley said: Annabel Giles has passed away, when did that happen? This is very sad news, although as normal, I am probably years behind the times with my news and information.
She passed away in 2023.
As for Mary Whitehouse. If you are reading this and don't live in the UK. Mary was a frightful old bat and prude. Her 'clean up television' campaign was aimed at just the smut I liked! Rumour has it she once tried to get Tom and Jerry banned due to the level of violence. I'll bear that in mind next time someone drops a cartoon anvil on my head.
Didn't she complain about the news being too violent for covering the Iran/Irag war?
Once of the young ladies who got gunged (I think she may have been called Charlotte, it's a little hazy now) used to have her own web page with some reminiscences of her experience. However, the pages are long gone. If I can spot them I'll post the links. x
Please don't encourage people to track this woman down. She definitely is called Charlotte and her surname is easily found online, as well as her social media. I'm sure she's had her fair share of weirdos message her about appearing on Noel's House Party over the years and she doesn't need any more.
Please don't encourage people to track this woman down. She definitely is called Charlotte and her surname is easily found online, as well as her social media. I'm sure she's had her fair share of weirdos message her about appearing on Noel's House Party over the years and she doesn't need any more.
Oh, dear God no! That was not the intention at all. I just meant do some research if you are interested in getting a 1st person perspective. Certainly never stalk the poor woman. Let's be very clear about that. I really do hope she is not under any duress after appearing on TV.
Trouso said: Not the most 'exciting' subject for a gunging, (a famously prudish anti-smut campaigner aged 80ish at the time) of course, but her account revealed much more about the 'routine'.
As a Doctor Who and horror fan, I THOROUGHLY enjoyed her gunging after how much grief she gave producers in the 1970s.
thereald said: The main thing that came up in any forum discussion of NHP seemed to be the guy who got caught wanking on the hidden camera segment.
OMG, how absolutely horrible. That actually happened LIVE?? Presumably they did not go ahead with the segment? I have a friend who loves House Party and must hear this full story.
thereald said: The main thing that came up in any forum discussion of NHP seemed to be the guy who got caught wanking on the hidden camera segment.
OMG, how absolutely horrible. That actually happened LIVE?? Presumably they did not go ahead with the segment? I have a friend who loves House Party and must hear this full story.
Supposedly they'd set up hidden cameras to record a Gotcha (these were filmed in advance of broadcast) but the subject, being unaware... well, anyway, supposedly they had to admit it and had over the tape. The rumour is not consistent as to whcih celebrity was the person involved, which strongly suggests to me it's not true
This is only tangentially related and definitely requires knowledge of minor UK celebs, but until her death was announced I was convinced Annabel Giles and Annabel Croft were the same person. I'd always think 'gee NHP really nailed it gunging that tennis player' never realising I was thinking of someone completely different.
P.S the NHP gunging in question is 100% my fave, the actual circumstances leading up to it elevate it so much
The rumour is not consistent as to whcih celebrity was the person involved, which strongly suggests to me it's not true
Yeah, probably not. The one I'm thinking of, you can clearly tell he finds her attractive, he looks aroused and embarrassed at the gunging. Maybe he's one of us and he's here, who knows?
MistaOveralls said:
thereald said: The main thing that came up in any forum discussion of NHP seemed to be the guy who got caught wanking on the hidden camera segment.
OMG, how absolutely horrible. That actually happened LIVE?? Presumably they did not go ahead with the segment? I have a friend who loves House Party and must hear this full story.
I think it's not real, but still, people talk about it
{quote]Didn't she complain about the news being too violent for covering the Iran/Irag war?
Ah, no, because that's a war and not fictional smut/violence on the TV. She's just one of the merry band of uptight bastards who'd have everything apart from the '10 O'clock News' and 'Songs of Praise' banned. They are still with us today, unfortunately, and are most likely trying to get this site and many others shut down as we speak. I guess this whole anti-porn movement at the moment is another topic for a debate somewhere else.
It was always Russian Roulette, this segment. For every Anneka Rice, Annabel Giles, and - best of all - Carol Vorderman, you could get the aforementioned Mary Whitehouse or Edwina Currie. The very definition of challenging wanks.
juliesboy said: It was always Russian Roulette, this segment. For every Anneka Rice, Annabel Giles, and - best of all - Carol Vorderman, you could get the aforementioned Mary Whitehouse or Edwina Currie. The very definition of challenging wanks.
Let's take a moment to remember all those fallen wankers who soldiered on.
@Edwina_Currie what was it like being gunged on Noel's House Party?
@GroupthinkBlogs Wet and warm, actually. They lend you a blouse - it wasn't mine
Also I found a video on YouTube where Phil Cool was doing his Rolf Harris impression and someone in the comments claimed to be one of the audience members who got painted and he said they weren't warned and the paint was real.
I can't seem to find the video, perhaps it's been taken down. He did paint several members of the audience including a rather lovely lady.
Liz Kershaw is quite grumpy about her gunging in her book, describing it as "awful: imagine being sacked and then being very publicly humiliated in public by your own company with its smuggest employee in charge". Odd really as she seemed to take it in good spirits at the time.
I vaguely recall Keith Floyd saying when his suit was cleaned and returned to him, it had shrunk.
Chatted once with a non-celeb about their gunging in telly. Took it in good faith that it was them & they seemed to know their stuff, was really interesting to hear about it from.the perspective who had been through the thing I was sat at home craving growing up
jo_yo said: I found a video on YouTube where Phil Cool was doing his Rolf Harris impression and someone in the comments claimed to be one of the audience members who got painted and he said they weren't warned and the paint was real.
I can't seem to find the video, perhaps it's been taken down. He did paint several members of the audience including a rather lovely lady.
That clip was amazing! Looks like it has gone (not sure if I managed to rip a copy - I don't think I did, sadly). And I can't find that episode, either (S1, final episode).
I made a post on here years ago about it (the YT vid referred to was posted in around 2007).
I saw the sketch when it was first broadcast in the mid 1980s - It was an unexpected turn and I was quite shocked (and excited) by it. Very influential to me.
For those who don't know it, the culmination of the sketch, a song, sung in character as Harris, ends as he approaches the audience with the paint pots and decorating brushes he's been, so far, using to paint at an easel on stage. With the words "I could paintYOU" he sets about painting nervous audience members with his brush and paint pot (divided into two sections - black and orange).
The person in the comments did actually mention that a warning was issued before the show that those sitting in the front row would very possibly get messy and should move to a different seat if they were not happy about it.
But that audience member did also say that they were NOT told that it was going to be actual paint (It was almost definitely non-toxic poster paint but it would have still stained) "It ruined my shirt"
They went on to describe how they were invited to the after show drinks for their troubles and that there was an option on offer to claim the cost of replacing damaged clothes but they had a good few drinks, a great time and didn't bother.
juliesboy said: It was always Russian Roulette, this segment. For every Anneka Rice, Annabel Giles, and - best of all - Carol Vorderman, you could get the aforementioned Mary Whitehouse or Edwina Currie. The very definition of challenging wanks.
Let's take a moment to remember all those fallen wankers who soldiered on.
Though on a gunge-technical note, the Mary Whitehouse gunging was actually the best of the entire run, because unlike all the other victims, she wasn't perched on a tall stool, but instead sitting more leaning back in a lower chair, presumably because of her age. Which meant that when the gunge dropped, instead of landing on the top of her head, bouncing off, spray-painting the inside of the tank and largely missing the actual person, in her case it landed on her chest and in her lap and flowed all over her dress, drenching it completely. To my mind that was a massive improvement on the usual arrangements and I had hoped the producers would have noticed and changed to the lower chair for everyone, but sadly they didn't.
jo_yo said: I found a video on YouTube where Phil Cool was doing his Rolf Harris impression and someone in the comments claimed to be one of the audience members who got painted and he said they weren't warned and the paint was real.
I can't seem to find the video, perhaps it's been taken down. He did paint several members of the audience including a rather lovely lady.
That clip was amazing! Looks like it has gone (not sure if I managed to rip a copy - I don't think I did, sadly). And I can't find that episode, either (S1, final episode).
I made a post on here years ago about it (the YT vid referred to was posted in around 2007).
I saw the sketch when it was first broadcast in the mid 1980s - It was an unexpected turn and I was quite shocked (and excited) by it. Very influential to me.
For those who don't know it, the culmination of the sketch, a song, sung in character as Harris, ends as he approaches the audience with the paint pots and decorating brushes he's been, so far, using to paint at an easel on stage. With the words "I could paintYOU" he sets about painting nervous audience members with his brush and paint pot (divided into two sections - black and orange).
The person in the comments did actually mention that a warning was issued before the show that those sitting in the front row would very possibly get messy and should move to a different seat if they were not happy about it.
But that audience member did also say that they were NOT told that it was going to be actual paint (It was almost definitely non-toxic poster paint but it would have still stained) "It ruined my shirt"
They went on to describe how they were invited to the after show drinks for their troubles and that there was an option on offer to claim the cost of replacing damaged clothes but they had a good few drinks, a great time and didn't bother.
It might've been removed thanks to Rolf Harris's fall from grace, so to speak. Let's hope nothing come out about Noel Edmonds, or him who did Get Your Own Back, or the cast of Tiswas.
jo_yo said: I found a video on YouTube where Phil Cool was doing his Rolf Harris impression and someone in the comments claimed to be one of the audience members who got painted and he said they weren't warned and the paint was real.
I can't seem to find the video, perhaps it's been taken down. He did paint several members of the audience including a rather lovely lady.
That clip was amazing! Looks like it has gone (not sure if I managed to rip a copy - I don't think I did, sadly). And I can't find that episode, either (S1, final episode).
I made a post on here years ago about it (the YT vid referred to was posted in around 2007).
I saw the sketch when it was first broadcast in the mid 1980s - It was an unexpected turn and I was quite shocked (and excited) by it. Very influential to me.
For those who don't know it, the culmination of the sketch, a song, sung in character as Harris, ends as he approaches the audience with the paint pots and decorating brushes he's been, so far, using to paint at an easel on stage. With the words "I could paintYOU" he sets about painting nervous audience members with his brush and paint pot (divided into two sections - black and orange).
The person in the comments did actually mention that a warning was issued before the show that those sitting in the front row would very possibly get messy and should move to a different seat if they were not happy about it.
But that audience member did also say that they were NOT told that it was going to be actual paint (It was almost definitely non-toxic poster paint but it would have still stained) "It ruined my shirt"
They went on to describe how they were invited to the after show drinks for their troubles and that there was an option on offer to claim the cost of replacing damaged clothes but they had a good few drinks, a great time and didn't bother.
It might've been removed thanks to Rolf Harris's fall from grace, so to speak. Let's hope nothing come out about Noel Edmonds, or him who did Get Your Own Back, or the cast of Tiswas.
Possibly, although there are plenty of other (non-messy) Phil Cool/RH clips still up.
Not NHP, but one of the hosts of a saturday morning staple once created a blog post on her website all about the highlight of her TV career... getting Gunged.
jo_yo said: I found a video on YouTube where Phil Cool was doing his Rolf Harris impression and someone in the comments claimed to be one of the audience members who got painted and he said they weren't warned and the paint was real.
I can't seem to find the video, perhaps it's been taken down. He did paint several members of the audience including a rather lovely lady.
That clip was amazing! Looks like it has gone (not sure if I managed to rip a copy - I don't think I did, sadly). And I can't find that episode, either (S1, final episode).
I made a post on here years ago about it (the YT vid referred to was posted in around 2007).
I saw the sketch when it was first broadcast in the mid 1980s - It was an unexpected turn and I was quite shocked (and excited) by it. Very influential to me.
For those who don't know it, the culmination of the sketch, a song, sung in character as Harris, ends as he approaches the audience with the paint pots and decorating brushes he's been, so far, using to paint at an easel on stage. With the words "I could paintYOU" he sets about painting nervous audience members with his brush and paint pot (divided into two sections - black and orange).
The person in the comments did actually mention that a warning was issued before the show that those sitting in the front row would very possibly get messy and should move to a different seat if they were not happy about it.
But that audience member did also say that they were NOT told that it was going to be actual paint (It was almost definitely non-toxic poster paint but it would have still stained) "It ruined my shirt"
They went on to describe how they were invited to the after show drinks for their troubles and that there was an option on offer to claim the cost of replacing damaged clothes but they had a good few drinks, a great time and didn't bother.
It might've been removed thanks to Rolf Harris's fall from grace, so to speak. Let's hope nothing come out about Noel Edmonds, or him who did Get Your Own Back, or the cast of Tiswas.
Quite a few presenters associated with messy British TV seem strange and hard to warm to. Edmonds has always been a bit of a prat, Peter Simon was heard having an off-air rant about Latvians of all people, and the less said about Jim Davidson the better!
Back the original question, I've definitely seen Nicola Stapleton tweet about her gunging. Basically said she enjoyed it.
NHP gunging's are the reason for my messy fetish I think!
Keith Floyd in his autobiography mentions his gunging and says he bought a new linin suit for the show, and although they washed it, it was never the same again!
On a recent programme about Noel Edmonds (channel 5 I think) Tony Blackburn who I think got tanked twice in Noels gungetank mentions a bit about it, how he was set up and how it was Noels idea to have the gungetank in the show, whether that is true or not I don't know.
All I do know is that i'd love to take a seat in it, maybe after a head to head vote that I lost!
slipperyskin said: Not NHP, but one of the hosts of a saturday morning staple once created a blog post on her website all about the highlight of her TV career... getting Gunged.
blackdelta said: I like these discussions on the "meta" of WAM!
slipperyskin said: Not NHP, but one of the hosts of a saturday morning staple once created a blog post on her website all about the highlight of her TV career... getting Gunged.
Is it still up? Who was it?
Heather Suttie, but pretty sure it's gone.
EDIT: Yep, definitely gone. Found on the Wayback Machine but not sure if I'd be allowed to link to it under current UMD rules.
Okay, thank you, she was an adult when it happened, but here is the relevant text just in case:
The highlight of the dream of being a TV presenter doing [deleted] was being unexpectedly gunged on the last ever episode of the show.
In one word it was MEGA!!!! I reckon everyone should have the opportunity to get gunged. It's no wonder A List stars line up to take part in the [deleted] Awards, it's a blast!
It was a pretty special experience and the cold, goey paint was ridiculously good fun and I worked with great people at the BBC. However the paint did ruin my favourite red shoes but I'd do it again in a heart beat. If you ever get the opportunity to get gunged do it!
And the lesson from my experience, yes it's great to achieve a childhood dream but actually the journey part for me, really was way, way more fun. And dreams do come true, be careful what you wish for!