Big Fat Quiz of the Year leaves viewers 'disgusted' and 'saddened'

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Big Fat Quiz of the Year leaves viewers ‘disgusted’ and ‘saddened’(Image: copyright: Brian J Ritchie)

Viewers of Big Fat Quiz of 2025 slammed the show after AI was used as part of a joke. Just minutes into the show viewers demanded Channel 4 “do f***ing better” after one joke left them feeling “disgusted”.

In this year’s iteration of Big Fat Quiz of the Year, host Jimmy Carr was joined by Katherine Ryan, Roisin Conaty, Jonathan Ross, Nick Mohammed, Lou Sanders and Richard Ayoade.

Early in the show, Jimmy and the other comedians looked back at a social media trend, where people used AI to create a Barbie doll of themselves, alongside items that they use often. Jimmy showed off an image of himself as a doll with multiple faces, another of Katherine with a botox needle and wine, one of Nick with magic equipment and one of Lou with crystals.

The show used AI to create dolls of the contestants

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The show used AI to create dolls of the contestants(Image: Channel 4)

Katherine Ryan's was shown with white wine, a botox needle and a baby bottle

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Katherine Ryan’s was shown with white wine, a botox needle and a baby bottle(Image: Channel 4)

“Disgusted and saddened to see The Big Fat Quiz of the Year using AI to generate gag doll images,” said one fan about the show’s joke. “Images so half-a**ed that nobody checked the output. One of them has two magic wands that don’t look like wands, and Jimmy’s is a recycled tax joke from five years ago.”

Another agreed: “I’ve watched #BigFatQuiz for at least ten years, and five minutes in the shows using AI? Way to lose a fan base.” A third said: “Not even 5 mins in and they’re doing AI slop trends on big fat quiz of the year.” A fourth added: “Opening big fat quiz of the year with AI … channel 4 do f***ing better.”

The show was hosted by Jimmy Carr

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The show was hosted by Jimmy Carr(Image: copyright: Brian J Ritchie)

Traitors stars Jonathan Ross and Nick Mohammed were in a team

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Traitors stars Jonathan Ross and Nick Mohammed were in a team(Image: copyright: Brian J Ritchie)

This is not the first time the show has faced controversy. Viewers previously slammed the show for not being sufficiently accessible for blind comedian Chris McCausland.

During 2024’s show, several questions had a visual component and asked the panelists to look at pictures or videos to answer a question. The images and videos did not come with suitable arrangements for Chris, and his teammate Maisie Adams had to describe them to him. Many felt this put him at an unfair disadvantage.

While Chris did not seem to mind on the show, several viewers spoke out about the lack of inclusivity. “The further into the Big Fat Quiz of the Year it gets the more glaringly obvious it is that there have been zero adaptations for Chris and it’s just getting more and more uncomfortable,” one said.

Another added: “Big Fat Quiz of the Year showing itself up by inviting Chris McCausland on as a panellist then not giving him a proper audio description or adjusting the quiz itself to be inclusive… clearly showing the difference between diversity and inclusion at least.”

At the time, Channel 4 said: “The production team consulted Chris McCausland in the weeks ahead of recording to confirm which adjustments he would find helpful for ‘The Big Fat Quiz’ and we are happy that Chris’s preferences were respected.”