Weekly Triva File

• Ricky Gervais: ‘I'm so sick of all this media talk about whether swearing is big and clever or not in comedy. Don't dignify the debate. If you don't like swearing, don't fucking swear. If you do, then don't worry about what any other cunt thinks. It's just filling poor column inches and feeding controversy. Oh bollocks, I just added to the debate.’

• James Corden has a crush on X Factor winner Alexandra Burke and has apparently bought her a £4,000 Cartier watch, but she thinks he’s ‘not her type’.

• Meanwhile, Corden’s Gavin & Stacey co-star Mat Horne is planning a song for them both to sing with Kylie Minogue at February's Brit Awards, which they are hosting. Horne, who met Kylie while working on her ITV1 special last year, said: ‘I'll be talking to Kylie about possibly doing a duet. Perhaps I could sing or James and I could be the dancers in her song.’

• After one live League Of Gentleman show, the fans who went backstage to say hello included Damon Hill, Leo Sayer and Les Dennis. ‘That was an odd assortment,’ star Mark Gatiss admits.

• Michael McIntyre says he wished he’d been told he hadn’t won the British Comedy Award before plastering on the fake loser’s smile for the TV cameras at the live ceremony earlier this month. McIntyre was beaten to the best stand-up title by Russell Brand, who accepted via video from Los Angeles. Now he has said: ‘So while I'm at home worrying about my speech and thinking will I win or not, the award is already over the Atlantic. The guy at customs knows I haven't won. The guy on baggage X-ray knows I haven't won. The guys who edit the show know. The guys in rehearsal when they went, “Okay, cue Russell Brand” – they knew I didn't win. So that was sort of annoying.’

• On Christmas morning, how chuffed would your loved one be to unwrap a framed picture of Jo Brand mourning at the funeral of comedy circuit legend Malcolm Hardee'? Well, someone out there is hoping that’s the perfect gift, and is flogging it for £58.72 on Amazon. .

• Dawn French's 100-year-old grandmother was robbed of her £400 Christmas savings yesterday by two fraudsters who tricked their way into her house by posing as binmen.

• Bad stand-up of the week:
  

• Johnny Vegas has lost five stone, which he fears could affect his character in Benidorm.

• Alan Carr was a teenage birdwatcher, saying: 'I always got binoculars for Christmas and spent all my spare time down at the reservoir watching Canada geese. It’s cute, but very sad. If I did it now, people would think I was dogging!'

• Ruth Jones and Joanna Page got naked together for the Christmas Eve Gavin & Stacey special.

• As a student, Ricky Gervais ate baked beans on Shredded Wheat.

• No WTF next week, but we’ll be back in 09. Merry Christmas…

SOURCES: RickyGervais.com, The Sun, thelondonpaper, Metro, Metro, Amazon, The Mirror, YouTube, Daily Star, Now Magazine, Gloucestershire Citizen, The Observer

Published: 19 Dec 2008