Jason Manford

Jason Manford

Date of birth: 26-05-1981
Manford started his comedy career by winning the North West comedian of the year title in 1999. A year later, he won the Leicester Mercury comedian of the year, and was a finalist in the So You Think You're Funny? new act competition.

He made his Edinburgh Fringe debut in 2005 with Urban Legend, a show that was nominated for the main Perrier award. The following year he won the Chortle award for best breakthrough act.

He embarked on his first solo tour of the UK in September 2008, a month after hosting the topical Channel 4 show Tonightly

He became increasingly well-known thanks to his role on the Channel 4 panel show 8 Out of 10 Cats, and in 2010 hosted the high-profile Comedy Rocks for ITV. In May 2010 he was confirmed as the new co-host of BBC One's The One Show.

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Have I Got Sport For You won't be back

No full series for the comedy panel show

Have I Got Sport For You is not going to be made into a full series, it has been revealed.

Jason Manford hosted a spin-off from the long-running news quiz in January – with the single episode largely seen as pilot for a future series.

But today’s Sun reports that the programme will remain an one-off, with a BBC spokesman confirming to Chortle: ‘Have I Got Sport for You was a one-off special episode to celebrate a ­spectacular year of sport in 2024.’

When the show was filmed, Manford said: ‘It’s such a privilege to be hosting this show — a sports version of Have I Got News For You. It’s an idea that’s so good, it only took them 34 years to come up with it.’

The show was seen as a possoibl;e replacement for A Question Of Sport, which was shelved in 2023 after 53 years on air, with the broadcaster blaming ‘inflation and funding challenges’.

But that show had suffered a slump in viewers from 4 million in 2021 – when long-running host Sue Barker was replaced by  Paddy McGuinness –  to around 800,000 at the time it was axed.

Sky's comedy sports quiz A League of Their Own is also coming to an end after 15 years with its current series being its last.

Have I Got Sport For You featured  comics  Jon Richardson and Maisie Adam, alongside sporting figures Eddie Hearn, Kadeena Cox, Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Stuart Broad.

It was made by Hat Trick Productions, the same company behind Have I Got News For You.

Hat Trick previously made a one-off episode of Have I Got Sport For You for Radio 4 in 2012, fronted by former They Think It's All Over host Nick Hancock.

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Published: 1 Dec 2025

Nice One, Jason | Critics warm to Manford's debut

Nice One, Jason

Jason Manford’s debut as a One Show host has been…
17/08/2010

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