Ellie’s 400-mile haircut
Ellie revealed that she had completed a 400-mile round trip to visit the hairdresser she had used for nearly a decade. She described the relationship as the longest in her life and said she trusted her hairdresser too much to start again with somebody new after moving to London.
Scott compared the appointment with therapy and asked whether Ellie could realistically continue travelling that distance every time she needed a cut. Ellie argued that some professional relationships were too important to replace casually.
The Easiest Quiz: Simon scores seven
Simon from New Milton in Hampshire played after receiving permission from his boss, Steve. He started work at 6.30am and said the office listened to Scott every morning, which meant a long quiz run would also reduce the amount of work he needed to do.
Simon cycled to and from work, walked two miles at lunchtime and played golf at the weekend. With the weekly scoreboard reset, he became the first contestant charged with setting the target.
He answered questions about school, clothing, daffodils, fish, decades and Father Christmas. Asked to name a famous Anne, he immediately said “Anne Summers”, prompting Scott to explain that he had first thought of Anne of Cleves, Anne Hegerty and Anne Hathaway.
The run ended when Scott asked him to name a comedian. Simon heard “Canadian” through the weak New Forest phone signal and answered “Justin Bieber”. Scott checked whether the quiz might accept Bieber as a comedian, but the ruling remained final.
Simon finished with seven points and became the provisional Streak of the Week leader. Scott said he had already brightened the morning with “Anne Summers” and sent his regards to Steve.
Rob Rinder and Game Changers
Rob Rinder joined Scott to assess a new collection of listeners’ Game Changers: small discoveries, routines and shortcuts said to make everyday life easier.
Scott presented the ideas one at a time, with Rob deciding whether each one represented a genuine improvement or merely a habit its sender had become attached to.
The discussion moved between practical household tips, travel shortcuts and pieces of advice whose usefulness depended heavily on the person trying them. Rob approached the feature like a light-hearted courtroom, asking what evidence supported each claim.
Ellie and Tina also tested the suggestions against their own routines, particularly where a tip sounded clever but created more work than it saved.
The strongest entries were allowed to join the show’s growing Game Changers list, while weaker suggestions were rejected with a clear verdict.
The Birthday Game: Sarah from Stanley
Sarah from Stanley in County Durham celebrated her 40th birthday. She was a major fan of television chef James Martin and had visited his Manchester restaurant, planned to see his live show in Glasgow and hoped to visit another restaurant later in the year.
She shared her birthday with Daniel Kaluuya and Ben Miller and said her musical taste was broad enough for Scott to “hit me with whatever you’ve got”.
Her first option was t.A.T.u.’s All the Things She Said, number one in 2003. Sarah rejected it. The second was Sam Smith’s Money on My Mind from 2014, which she also decided was not strong enough to keep.
That left her with the third and final song, a number one from 1992. The transcript clearly records that Sarah was happy with the outcome, but the automated song identification is too garbled to name the track safely without guessing.
24 February 2025: Vernon Kay
The handover looked ahead to Franz Ferdinand in the Piano Room and reviewed Rob Rinder’s Game Changers verdicts. Scott also confirmed that another mystery guest would arrive later in the week.
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