A favour becomes a soaking
After weeks of support during Strictly Come Dancing, Judge Rinder agrees by text to play Innuendo Bingo for Scott. No publicist appears to have explained the format, and his repeated question about why he must get wet suggests the commitment was made before he understood it.
Rinder arrives openly reluctant and briefly looks capable of walking out. He nevertheless fills his mouth with water, faces Chris and completes the clips, protesting at both the material and the state of his clothes while Scott enjoys obtaining an appearance that once seemed impossible.
Dial-a-Carol reaches Illinois
The annual call to the University of Illinois’s Dial-a-Carol service begins the programme’s transatlantic Christmas contact. Student volunteers answer requests around the clock and sing seasonal songs to callers for free, a tradition Scott has used for years.
The British request and the students’ enthusiastic performance turn the call into a regular feature again. Scott and Chris plan further attempts before Christmas, especially when visiting musicians can join in and confuse the volunteer on the other end of the phone.
Callie decides the Bangers week
Callie is given the deciding vote in Bangers and chooses the week’s winner. Scott and Chris are already collecting their strongest selections for a six-hour Christmas Eve programme built almost entirely from songs that have succeeded in the daily contest.
The eighth Whooovent Calendar door also opens. With the Radio 1 Christmas party approaching and Scott displaying a conspicuously artificial winter tan, the show has fully moved from ordinary December programming into its annual festive machinery.


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