19-04-2025
Pointless Celebrities star says breaking world record made 'boring TV'
Pointless Celebrities contestant Georgie Barrat has recalled breaking a world record in VR.
Speaking to the format's long-running host Alexander Armstrong on Saturday, 19 April, the 35-year-old explained how her 26.5-hour Minecraft marathon didn't make for compelling TV material.
Apparently, a producer on The Gadget Show (which Barrat has co-presented since 2017) even went as far as to label it "the most boring bit of television" the programme had ever created.
"Fabulous to have you here," Armstrong told Barrat before her first attempt at Pointless.
"Now you present The Gadget Show; I would like to know what's the gadget that we should all have?"
She replied: "Well I love virtual reality. [VR headsets] are really, really good fun," before opening up about clinching a recognised world record.
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"So you're looking at the person that's been in VR the longest playing one VR game.
"I played Minecraft for 26 and a half hours straight! Lucky I don't get sick, some people feel quite nauseous when they're in VR for too long," Barrat continued.
"But I did it for The Gadget Show and at the end the producer said to me: 'That's the most boring bit of television we've ever made. I've got 26 and a half hours of footage of you just sort of sat in the corner with the VR headset on...' I'm like, 'I had a good time!' I built a lot of stuff in Minecraft in that time."
Launched by Swedish developer Mojang Studios in 2011, Minecraft has gone on to become the bestselling video game of all-time, shipping over 300 million copies as of last year.
Players spend their time exploring a "procedurally generated, three-dimensional" landscape, where they're supposed to unearth and extract raw materials, fashion tools, and build structures and machines in voxel form. Minecraft offers gamers two primary modes (survival mode and creative mode), plus three others (spectator mode, adventure mode and hardcore mode).
Such is the franchise's behemoth status, Hollywood released a live-action adaptation titled A Minecraft Movie this month, starring Jack Black, Jason Momoa and Peacemaker's Danielle Brooks.
At the time of writing, its box office haul has already soared past $662 million.
Pointless Celebrities airs on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
