The Festive Pottery Throw Down 2024 on Channel 4 sees novice potters Martin Kemp, Rachel Riley, Tom Rosenthal and Babatunde Aleshe rolling up their sleeves and braving the clay as they take part in the Christmas special of The Great Pottery Throw Down.
Under the watchful eye of host Siobhán McSweeney, the foursome will be set two tough challenges by judges Keith Brymer Jones and Rich Miller.
“Every now and again, a TV show comes along and you think: ‘That’s me. I’d like to do that’,” says Martin Kemp, Celebrity Gogglebox star and bassist for the 1980s pop band Spandau Ballet. “My dad was a great painter and great at making anything with his hands. I take after my dad. I'm a big fan of any art.”
“I thought it would be a fun challenge. It’s like stepping into the loveliest little family,” adds Countdown’s Rachel Riley. “It’s such wholesome stuff. At least, we're all at the same starting point. You’re not expected to be good. You’re going in enthusiastic, but rubbish.”
But who will be the Christmas champion? Here is everything you need to know about The Festive Pottery Throw Down 2024…
The Festive Pottery Throw Down 2024 release date
The Festive Pottery Throw Down 2024 will be shown on Channel 4 on December 26 2024 at 9pm, so a lovely Boxing Day treat.
The four celebrities on competing in The Festive Pottery Throw Down 2024
The Festive Pottery Throw Down 2024 competitors are...
Martin Kemp
He was in the hit 1980s band Spandau Ballet and had acting roles in The Krays, EastEnders, Waterloo Road and McDonald and Dodds. He’s also on Celebrity Gogglebox with his son Roman.
Martin says: "I like to paint portraits. I'm not great, but what’s lovely is you start with a white piece of canvas and it’s filled with endless possibilities. It’s good to express yourself. I kind of see everything as being art… even my garden. I put certain flowers and certain bushes in certain places… that’s become my big creative passion. I’m completely addicted. The last few years, writing has taken up all my spare time. I've got a second novel coming out after Christmas. That’s art… just a different form.
"I did a bit of pottery bit at school. I still have a couple of coil pots I made when I was a kid. I had a little practice beforehand on the wheel, just so it wasn't a complete disaster. I was really good. I thought: ‘I've really got the knack of it…’ During the show, though, when the pressure's on, the cameras are around and you feel your adrenaline move up a notch, you start to make the walls of your pots thicker for safety. You don’t want it to collapse.
"I’ve got a long way to go on the wheel, though – that’s a knack you have to get over time. It takes a lot of practice. I'd love to get hold of a wheel. At the end of my garden, we have an old piggery we converted. We call it Piglet and it's our space to do art. I could well install a pottery wheel in there."
Rachel Riley
The co-presenter of Countdown and 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown. She’s also competed on Strictly Come Dancing and presented The Gadget Show and It’s Not Rocket Science.
Rachel says: "I was excited. It’s such wholesome stuff. At least, we're all at the same starting point. Kind of. You’re not expected to be good. You’re going in enthusiastic, but rubbish. Even when your creations are awful, they’re nice. They’re the most positive people you'd ever meet. And Rich and Keith are so knowledgeable. When people are enthusiastic, it's just infectious. The rigour and effort and the time it takes… there's something really special about pottery. It's not something that can be fudged. And there’s an element of danger. It’s up to the Gods of Clay whether things come out of the kiln in pieces.
"When I was filming Pottery Throw Down, you go up for the day and make everything, then that has to dry and be fired. It takes a few days before you can touch it again. I came home and my daughter was like: ‘Mummy, can we go to the café and paint some pots?’ My mother-in-law, my two little girls and I went to this ceramics café and painted. Again, you go away and come back a few days later and see it transformed. It's a really nice activity. Doing anything with your hands, you’re in the moment. It’s quite therapeutic."
Babatunde Aleshe
The comedian and actor was a contestant on I’m A Celebrity… in 2022 and has been on Taskmaster, Live at the Apollo, Celebrity Gogglebox and Would I Lie to You?.
Babatunde says: "Clay has a mind of its own. You can't tell clay what to do. You have to guide it and be gentle and controlled and I'm just so rough. You should see me when I'm lotioning my son's face… I’m proper rubbing. You have to learn how to almost listen to – and feel – the clay. All of this stuff I just ain't got in my itinerary. I've not got it within myself to do these things..
"I don't do arts and cratfs. I meet people that do all these different things and I'm like, ‘You have time for that?’ I've got two children – one’s a year old. Once I get home, it's Daddy mode. I’m taking my son to football and kickboxing, I’m changing my daughter's nappy for the 1,500th time of the day. My son does artistic stuff like painting and colouring with my wife Leonie. I did say after filming: ‘This is something I’d like to continue with the family…’ Pottery’s something that would help all of us. You’re focused on what you're making and your brain goes so clear. And it’s fun. I’m very grateful for the opportunity, even if it is on national TV."
Tom Rosenthal
Son of sports persenter Jim Rosenthal, Tom played Jonny in Friday Night Dinner and Marcus in Plebs. He’s also been in Broadchurch, Horrible Histories and Bridget Jones’s Baby.
Tom says: "This is a searing point of contention. Every other contestant talked about remembering doing this sort of thing at school. I never did anything like this at school. We were doing things like English, geography, maths. They didn’t say: ‘OK, class. Now, for a few hours, we’re going to learn how to shape a dog out of some earth.’ It has posed absolutely no problem for me until I began filming this show, where I’ll be honest, it was quite the impediment. How dare you, Reading Blue Coat School? My parents paid you a fine fee to roundly educate me, yet zero hours were spent making a wine cooler out of wet clay. You taught me geology instead. You’ve screwed me, Blue Coat. You’re entirely responsible for the result of this year’s Festive Pottery Throw Down, and not me, crucially.
"I am obsessive. I practiced more than I was allowed. They said: ‘You’re allowed to have four hours of lessons…’ I booked 12. I paid for them out of my own pocket. I was already behind the rest of the contestants as they’d been taught this stuff at school. I wasn’t about to be humiliated by Martin Kemp just because his school taught pottery, so I threw some money at it. Poor old Mary, teaching me to the best of her abilities, looking at me with pure pity when she saw what limited natural talent I had. ‘We’re going to make this as easy as possible for you,’ she said, after another wretched attempt to carve my beloved dog Kiki into a statuette. Every time I practiced making Kiki, she came out looking like a radioactive sea monster made out of custard. Could I buy more lessons? Throw more money at it? No, I couldn’t. I was heading to Stoke the next day. My school. My teacher. They’d all failed me. This was everyone’s fault but my own."
The Festive Pottery Throw Down 2024 challenges
The celebrities have been tasked with making a Winter Wonderland using a technique called hand building, where you form the clay with your hands rather than using a potter’s wheel. The second challenge sees them asked to throw as many festive wine coolers as possible.
Is there a trailer?
Yes there's now a trailer for The Festive Pottery Throw Down on Channel 4. Do take a look below...
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
