Talk:Bob Holness

Hedgehog

• Until someone comes up with some proof re: Harold the Hedgehog, I think we can safely take the reference out.

Birthplace

• Apparently, Bob was born simultaneously in England and South Africa. Can someone please confirm which? sugarfish 08:38, 3 January 2006 (UTC)

He was born in South Africa, but grew up in Kent in the United Kingdom. ACEOREVIVED (talk) 16:02, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

School

• there is no Ashford Grammer school. the Closest thing to that would be Ashford Girls school and I'm sure he didn't attend. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Morcus (talk • contribs) 02:07, 19 October 2007 (UTC)

On the contrary! Ashford Grammar School was founded over 350 years ago by Sir Norton Knatchbull (scholar and M.P. for New Romney, Kent). However, the school has been known as The Norton Knatchbull School for many years (I know this because I live just down the road from said school). Bob Holness attended here. Edited as appropriate--80.4.6.146 (talk) 02:38, 21 December 2007 (UTC) db1987db

Bob's health

What's this "Bob is alive and well despite rumours to the contrary?" Citations surely needed.

There was a piece in one of the Sunday papers a while back which said that he had a stroke a few years ago but didn't go public with it at the time (he's recovered now). He'd also had a number of TIAs (so-called "mini-strokes") going back several years, which his wife thought might account for his occasional lapses in concentration when hosting "Call My Bluff". It seems that his bouts of forgetfulness weren't completely an act after all. -88.111.60.124 22:27, 16 April 2007 (UTC)

I am uncomfortable with leaving issues about Bob's health without any citations. If nobody can provide any, then I believe any statements about his health should be removed. Andy4226uk 00:26, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

Well said. Jamestaylor 12:12, 3 August 2007 (UTC)

Generation game announcer

In this recent edit an anonymous user removed the sentence about Holness being the announcer on The Generation Game. Googling it provides quite a few references, from what would usually be considered reliable sources - but because they're all recent and seem to contain much the same information as this article I'm slightly dubious as it seems many news agencies have just used Wikipedia info in their coverage. Can anyone clarify, or find a genuinely reliable source, for this information? waggers (talk) 15:58, 6 January 2012 (UTC)

The Fiction that he played the Saxophone

The news reports of his death on BBC Radio Four said that there was at one time a non-true story in circulation going around that he played the saxophone. I did wonder whether this might have stemmed from an act of vandalism on Wikipedia - a bit like the legend that Ronnie Hazelhurst wrote a song for S Club 7! I am not saying it did, although I expect that the story stemmed from something somewhere on the world wide web. The story dates back to 2006. Does any one know anything about it? ACEOREVIVED (talk) 16:05, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

See Stuart Maconie. Martinevans123 (talk) 16:13, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

So it started off as a joke, and any fool could see it's a joke, but nonetheless it began to be circulated as fact. A bit like the way Internet hoaxes start, except that they usually continue to circulate in a way in which any fool could see that it needs to be taken with a cup of salt.

Still, the rumour and the debunking of it must have made people wonder whether Bob did ever play the saxophone, or indeed any musical instrument, either professionally or as a hobby. The answer might have come out as part of a statement by Bob about the rumour, or there might have been other investigation into it. Can anyone enlighten? — Smjg (talk) 12:28, 2 April 2012 (UTC)

It's not hard, read the references. From #9:

Years later, he said: "I would have loved to have been responsible for that tremendous sax solo but I can't play a note."

waggers (talk) 18:16, 2 April 2012 (UTC)

... on the sax, that is. Martinevans123 (talk) 20:07, 2 April 2012 (UTC)