BBC denies 'crib sheet' for quiz

Derbyshire clarified that she was offered "research guidance"

The BBC has denied that Celebrity Mastermind contestants are given "crib sheets", after radio presenter Victoria Derbyshire claimed she was offered one.

The BBC Radio 5 Live presenter said the offer was made when she was asked to take part in a festive special.

But Derbyshire later explained she was only offered "research guidance" and not answers to her specialist subject.

The BBC said it merely points some struggling contestants in the right direction for their research.

Derbyshire made her remarks to her show's listeners, and revealed that she had been made an offer to appear on Celebrity Mastermind to answer questions about the novels of Thomas Hardy.

She also said she decided not to take up the offer as she was not confident of getting the answers right, and later issued a statement to clarify her remarks.

She said: "What I meant on the programme was the Celebrity Mastermind team offered research guidance on my specialist subject area.

"This is what I meant by a 'crib' sheet and not answers to specific questions."

The BBC said: "Celebrity Mastermind does not provide contestants with 'crib' sheets and all contestants work hard in the run-up to the recording.

"Through our extensive experience in researching and compiling questions, production have become experts in identifying helpful and accurate resource tools.

"If a contestant is struggling to find adequate information, production can point them towards these in order to prevent them from using unsuitable material.

"We ensure the questions asked on Celebrity Mastermind are interesting for the viewers as well as challenging for the celebrity contestant."