CRAIG, WHAT DO YOU THINK MAKES YOU A GOOD QUIZMASTER?
I'm the new kid on the block when it comes to quizzing. And I think people like the warmness of it. And the irreverence of it. I mean, just because you're playing for a lot of money doesn't mean you can't have fun. So I try to have fun with the contestants, I try to be warm and compassionate and considerate and kind. I care about them, I want them to win.
WHAT MAKES MONEYBAGS DIFFERENT FROM OTHER QUIZ SHOWS?
I think the questions are really clever and perfectly constructed, I like that. And I like the sense of jeopardy, and the reversal of fortune. You could be playing for 160 grand in your bank account, something like that, and all of a sudden, you've got to give it to a competitor. So that reversal of fortune thing was quite good.
I also liked the sense of companionship and camaraderie that the show engenders, because you're with them for a few days. I'm not faking the excitement. It's really exciting, it's edge of your pants stuff. There's a million pounds a week coming down that conveyor belt, and it can be life changing sums for people.
I'm still in contact with people from the first series – we tweet each other, stuff like that, because you go through a life experience together. And it just makes you warm to people.
YOU'RE NOW COMPETING AGAINST POINTLESS AND THE CHASE. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THAT?
Trepidatious, to be honest. I think we've got a chance because it is different, it is more exciting, it's more irreverent, more fun, some of the questions are quite silly. And there's an awful lot more money at stake on Moneybags than there is on Pointless.
I mean, I often turn around, you know, when someone wins £10,000: "You'd have to win Pointless 10 times to win that!" So we do have a bit of fun with the other game shows against us.
But yeah, I'm trepidatious. It's good to have got there, it's just staying there now, isn't it?
SOME CELEBS ARE PLAYING MONEYBAGS THIS TIME AROUND, WHAT WAS THAT LIKE?
They were really good actually. And doing it for charity, it's more personal than playing for themselves, you know? You're doing this for charity, and all of a sudden you've got £100,000 for that charity, and the next minute, you've just lost it, or you've gone bankrupt and had to give it away to somebody else. So it affects people quite emotionally. I know someone had a really big loss. I can't tell you who, in the celebs one, had a really big loss. They were in floods of tears.
I've been there myself. I did Celebrity Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, got to the £32,000 question, got it wrong, and had to leave with a grand. No-one had prepared me for how devastated I felt about that. I think people take it a lot more personally when they're playing for a charity.
WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT BEING ON TV, AND NOW BEING A GAMESHOW HOST?
To be able to work in TV is an honour for me. And to be able to do shows that have lasted a long time, like Red Dwarf, Robot Wars, Takeshi's Castle, Coronation Street – the nation's greatest soap – these are all honours, really.
And it just feels like an honour to do what I'm hoping will be a really well received, long-living game show.
:: Moneybags returns to Channel 4 at 5pm today.
