Episode Cats169

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Episode Cats169, billed as 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown Series 28, Episode 2 in the UK and Series 17, Episode 4 in international markets, was a special episode broadcast on 1 August 2025, as part of 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown Series 28.

The team captains were Joe Wilkinson and Rhod Gilbert, their teammates were Josh Widdicombe and Thanyia Moore respectively, while Jimmy Carr reprised his role as the presenter.

The match saw Rhod Gilbert, with the assistance of Thanyia Moore, winning by 52 – 33 in a 7-rounder and they won a Countdown birdwatching kit consisting of parts of a bird made from feathers (Fabio, the show's permanent male model pretended to be one and moved around the studio).

Rachel Riley was, as ever, the arithmetician. The Dictionary Corner guest was Joe Kent-Walters (portraying his alter ego Frankie Monroe), and the lexicographer was Susie Dent. As Joe was not originally seated at the start of the show and walked up as part of the Introduction, this also marked the first time on the show where the Dictionary Corner guest's name was not narrated.

Interesting and notable moments from the episode are listed below:

1) During the Introduction, Rhod's prop was an accordion with each button/note containing pre-recorded lines of him swearing. Later on, Joe Wilkinson would show of a pair of urinal bowls containing butter (purportedly from his house) before showing off a rock climbing wall with the rocks replaced with urinal bowls. Fabio then attempted to climb it and even "urinated" on the floor while doing so before the stage managers took the wall away.

2) In Round 1, the clock music was replaced with a rendition of it played on an electric organ by "Jimmy" and an uncredited organist (as evident by the additional pair of hands during the scene). Additionally, Thanyia misdeclared SMOKE to be a six-letter word, but was let off by Jimmy indirectly.

3) Before Round 3 started, Jimmy "bet" on a few items via his phone (Letter Falls Off (the first A in the selection), Susie opens a beer, Cameraman's trousers fall down, Naked Streaker appearing, Rachel being hit by a "meteorite" and a Joe getting a nine-letter word in the selection). Since all these happened during the round, he was awarded £1 Billion from "The Swank Bank" in the form of a cheque, but it was withdrawn after Joe was found to have misdeclared.

4) As part of Joe Kent-Walter's first anecdote, he threw candy to the audience and the celebrities before joking each cost £1. Josh was also invited to the centre of the studio to guess the length of his socks, with Joe asking the audience to help him out by shouting was it higher or lower than where Josh was pointing on his leg.

5) In Round 5, it was dubbed a Lightning Round. All players took part where they would be jolted with an electric shock at random times by Jimmy via a pad attached on their spine (Jimmy additionally offered ice-cream to soothe the pain, but it was a trap and caused everyone to drop their ice-cream either onto the floor or table once an electric shock hit them). Points were doubled and the clock music was replaced with a spooky version of it coupled with sparks shooting out in front of the celebrities at various intervals, notably scaring everyone. Thus, the maximum was worth 14 points in this case.

NOTE 1: In this version, both players' declarations were allowed, although points were only awarded for the best answer.

NOTE 2: During the conundrum, after Josh gave his incorrect answer, Rhod immediately buzzed in with the correct answer before the clock was restarted, hence both timings are reflected to be identical.

Rounds

Rnd	Selection	Josh & Joe	Score	Rhod & Thanyia	Others	Max.
1	OAFEMSKOW	WOOFS smafe ☓	5 – 5	fakesow ☓ SMOKE	ASKEW*, AWOKE*, FAKES*, FOAMS*, KAMES*, MAKES*, MAKOS*, MEOWS*, MOFOS, MOKES*, MOKOS*, MOOKS*, MOOSE*, SMOKO*, WAKES*, WEKAS*, WOMAS*	5
2	25 10 2 8 3 2 → 401	401 401 2 × 8 × 25 + 3 − 2 2 × 8 × 25 + 3 − 2*	15 – 15	401 — 25 × 8 × 2 + 3 − 2		15
TTT	RHODWEES	Hand me a towel.			SHOWERED
Rnd	Selection	Joe Wilkinson	Score	Rhod Gilbert	Others	Max.
3	AGITASNEP	ants ☓9	15 – 22	PATINAS/PASTING/TAGINES	PAGINATES	33
Rnd	Selection	Josh Widdicombe	Score	Thanyia Moore	Others	Max.
4	25 50 10 8 4 1 → 541	541 (50 + 4) × 10 + 1	25 – 22	541 ☓		43
TTT	WHYISHAG	For a fast ride.			HIGHWAYS
Rnd	Selection	Josh & Joe	Score	Rhod & Thanyia	Others	Max.
5	URSOATPUD	SPUD ROAST	25 – 34	PASTOR/STUPOR TURDS/TRAPS	ARDUOUS	57
TTT	NOBCREAM	Enjoy it with other guys.			BROMANCE
6	TMATOPEOS	potatoe ☓ TOMATOES	33 – 42	TOMATOES POTATOES		65
7	ASSREGION	groinarea ☓ (28 seconds)	33 – 52	agression ☓ ORGANISES (15, 28 seconds)		75