Food and Drink

Gary Lineker - big-eared sportsman and one-time panellist on 'comedy' show They Think Its All Over - has had his latest Walkers Crisps commercial briefly pulled off the air.

Quick bit of exposition for any non-Britons reading this: Lineker is an ex-footballer who now makes a living by presenting sports programmes and - whenever he gets a spare moment - advertising packets of crisps to bewildered audiences. Many have argued that using a sporting type like Lineker to flog junk food might be a bit hypocritical, but they need to lighten up - the whole shebang has been pretty much commonplace ever since Muhammed Ali advertised Doritos, yelling to camera: "You know, when I'm not reflecting on my epic career, I like nothing more than to shovel handfuls of additive-coated corn snacks into my eager boxer's mouth."

He did need someone else to open the bags, mind.

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Eighteen stone of idiot he may be, but Johnny Vegas knows his food. Eat where a fat man does, that’s what we always say. Which probably explains why his favourite restaurant Larkins (situated in his hometown of St Helens) is always packed to the rafters.

Johnny Vegas (DVDs) has pretty much cornered the market in overweight, quite possibly permanently drunk comedians. Since his big break doing the Edinburgh Fringe in 1997 he’s slowly climbed the comedy ladder to success. Well, a big fella like that, you’d hardly expect him to shimmy up like Jimmy Carr wearing a gay man’s suit and a cravat, would you?

Despite the odd potato-shaped blip, Vegas has kept it on the straight and narrow with television based comedy – fundamentally as the manic guest of choice on shows like Room 101 and Shooting Stars. He’s also been fronting his own Friday night gig on Channel Four, and by most estimates Eighteen Stone of Idiot has done okay business, even with its nearly midnight slot.

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