Victoria Coren has 'no idea' why anyone watches Only Connect

Victoria Coren once revealed that she struggles to be positive about her TV work, and said that she doesn't know why people watch Only Connect. The presenter, 53, also described the show's popularity as "surprising". Coren has been hosting the game show, which is currently in its 21st series, since 2008.

She opened up about its success, explaining: "It's hard for me to talk in straightforwardly positive terms about anything I'm involved in. I struggle with compliments. I want to say: 'God knows! With its clumsy host, weird vibe and impossible questions, I don't know why anyone would watch!'" The writer and professional poker player, who is married to comedian and actor David Mitchell, told The Guardian three years ago: "But I am proud of the brilliant people who work on it, by which I don't mean myself, and I think there's a lesson in its surprising popularity. Only Connect isn't obvious or mainstream; its spirit is Welsh and clever and BBC Four."

Coren said the show was "a bit strange" and does its own thing, never trying to be popular. - which is something she felt that viewers responded to.

Ahead of Monday's episode of Only Connect, Coren took to social media to reveal that she had found it difficult to keep her cool during filming. She wrote on X: "I think tonight's episode of Only Connect is the one where I was struggling not to laugh during my introductory remarks. Also I wore black, meaning I appeared legless at the wall (as usual). Oh well, I never claimed to be a professional."

Coren has previously opened up about how her role on Only Connect has influenced the public's opinion of her. She told Channel 4 in 2021 that while casual viewers of the show would think she has "poise", regular watchers would know that this "isn't true". She said: "I have poise like Inspector Clouseau before he treads on a bomb."

She also said that being on television means opening oneself up to judgement - and that women are particularly affected by this. Coren added: "You can't work in television unless you're happy for people to judge you a certain way, usually wrongly, so I don't really mind that at all."

Away from presenting, Coren still enjoys game shows, she revealed last month. She told Radio Times: "I love Countdown so much, I can't let myself watch it. I get obsessed and start making anagrams out of car number plates."

However, as a mother of two young children, she is inevitably stuck watching a different kind of entertainment. Her daughter Barbara, 10, loves to watch The Masked Singer and old episodes of Poirot, while June, 18 months, "doesn't have any screen time".