Bongo’s Bingo is hands-down a cracking night out. Mix up some cocktail pitchers with a rave in a historical hall and you’ve got a recipe for success.
But it’s also more than your average Manchester event. Bongo’s Bingo is mad, unadulterated entertainment: A Year Six disco crossed with an office Christmas party. Only this time, boys and girls are not lingering in opposite corners and the teachers are stood on tables singing ‘Sweet Caroline’ – fuelled up on Woo-Woos and jaeger bombs whilst waving glow sticks.
With Rich Furness and his two hype-men dressed in drag headlining the show, Bongo’s cranks up the volume and turns Albert Hall into an absolute riot.
Rich Furness and his two hype men dressed in drag are experts in entertainment.
Bongo’s is always that night-out where ‘that crazy thing’ happened.
During the event we attended, a lad stopped the game and proposed – a gesture greeted by hoots from an auditorium of smashed strangers and awarded with a pat on the back from Rich.
ADVERTISEMENT
And that’s the best thing about Bongo’s – nothing is off-limits, and no one cares. Everyone is there for one thing and one thing only – to get smashed and have a cracking night out.
Oh, and to play Bingo, of course.
ADVERTISEMENT
Bongo’s version of bingo is on steroids – and so are the prizes.
Here’s a bit more about what’s involved…
It’s a game of chance, anyone could be walking out with a serious cash prize
The Game:
ADVERTISEMENT
Bongo’s version of bingo is split into five games with three rounds.
First round is won by crossing off just one horizontal row, the second is won by two rows and the third by getting a full house.
Huge numbers flash up on the screen and are read out seriously quickly, so you’ve got to be on the ball. But that also means the more tequila consumed by your competitors, the higher chance of winning the later prizes (just a tip from us).
Then, the steroids kick in. Bongo’s takes a pensioner’s hobby and makes it wild, verging on an X-rated Mad Hatter’s party.
One false call and the crowd shouts “D*ckhead!” repeatedly at you – public humiliation you won’t forget.
ADVERTISEMENT
Shout “Bingo!” at the same time as someone else, and you’re in for a dance off.
Coco Pops that were won were immediately sprayed over the crowd.
The Prizes:
Prizes at Bongo’s range from a box of Coco Pops (sprayed over the crowd) to a life-size cut out of Michael Bublé – that’s right, you could win the king of Christmas himself.
If you’re really lucky, you might even wheel home a new Henry Hoover or a huge set of Disney Princess Barbies. There’s even a karaoke machine up for grabs – if you’re willing to sing for it.
Lucky winners can take home £50, £200 and £1,000 – and all you have to do is get drunk and turn up.
ADVERTISEMENT
Everyone’s a winner at Bongo’s, though. Singing Take That whilst ordering in another round of shots… it’s a class night out.
The ‘most complained-about’ show in Britain over the last five years has been revealed
Danny Jones
The TV show with the most complaints in Britain over the past half-decade has seemingly been confirmed, and we can’t exactly say it’s given everyone watching a good morning…
Yes, it’s GMB.
Well, that’s according to research by Aura Print, anyway; they dug down into the official Ofcom data to try and discover which British TV programme got the most complaints – an unwanted accolade that was earned quite comfortably by Good Morning Britain.
This might not come as too much of a surprise to many of you, especially regular viewers over the last few years, with GMB often popping up in headlines alongside phrases like ‘viewers complain’ and ‘Ofcom’. Either way, here’s what the study found:
Rank
Programme
Service
Number of complaints (2021-2025)
1
Good Morning Britain
ITV1
91,890
2
Love Island
ITV2
66,252
3
Julia Hartley-Brewer
TalkTV
18,525
4
Dan Wootton Tonight
GB News
9,207
5
King Charles III: The Coronation
ITV1
8,389
6
This Morning
ITV
7,387
7
Celebrities: What’s Happened to Your Face?
Channel 5
7,082
8
Oprah with Meghan and Harry
ITV
6,456
9
I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!
ITV1
6,203
10
Jeremy Vine
Channel 5
4,982
11
Big Brother
ITV1 / ITV2
4,678
12
Lorraine
ITV
4,675
13
Breakfast with Kay Burley
Sky News
3,467
14
Emmerdale
ITV1
2,405
15
Vanessa
5
1,986
16
Loose Women
ITV
1,799
17
Married at First Sight UK
E4
1,748
18
Coronation Street
ITV
1,348
19
Lee Anderson’s Real World
GB News
1,668
20
Friday Night Live
Channel 4
1,630
21
Headliners
GB News
1,498
22
Ant Payne
Capital FM
1,430
23
Naked Education
Channel 4
1,413
24
The Brit Awards
ITV1
1,157
25
Today with Samantha Washington
Sky News
1,270
As you can see, GMB has racked up nearly 92,000 complaints over the past five years, which is well over 25k more than the next most inflammatory.
The rest of the top five is also made up of other mainstream news commentary programmes (four out of five), bar the second runner-up in Love Island, with 66,252.
It’s also worth noting that ITV is the most complained-about broadcaster of any network on the list. GB News came in second with three different shows on the list: Dan Wootton Tonight, Lee Anderson’s Real World and Headliners.
Certainly not surprising whatsoever was the particular episode that received the most complaints of all those in the history of Good Morning Britain, which went out on 8 March 2021.
In case you haven’t guessed which one this is already, it was the infamous Piers Morgan episode discussing Meghan Markle’s mental health, which was reported to Ofcom a whopping 57,973 times.
This feels like a lifetime ago, but we remember it receiving most Ofcom complaints Britain had ever seen at the time.
Yes, more than half of the complaints they have ever received come after ONE viral moment.
In terms of particularly divisive presenters, second only to Piers Morgan, Julia Hartley-Brewer was the next most complained-about presenter, racking up a total of 18,500 complaints.
GB News’ Dan Wootton came in at number three with 9,207 complaints, but also worth noting that plenty of what most would consider popular mainstream entertainment IPs like I’m A Celeb and Big Brother racked up over 10k collectively during this period.
You can find the full breakdown of Ofcom data from 2021-2025 right HERE.
Katy Perry at AO Arena Manchester – A nostalgic explosion of musical and visual vomit
Kristen MacGregor-Houlston
Katy Perry is here and you’re going to know about it. Like a punch in the face she’s blasted through Manchester on her The Lifetimes Tour and has three more dates to go including at the Utilita in Sheffield.
The wonderful team at the AO Arena kindly invited us down to experience (and it was an experience…) Katy Perry, whilst enjoying their premium offering at The Mezz, which is worth a visit in itself. More on that later.
Ahead of the show beginning there’s a mega buzz in the bowl, with Perry fans dressed up in an array of outfits matching an album ‘era’. I’m surprised there are so many young fans of Katy as she’s someone I grew up with, but perhaps that’s just me showing my age.
The stage takes the shape of a huge infinity sign, with a vast number of television screens adorning the back. The ‘theme’ of the show is meant to be video games, the purpose of which goes over my head and apparently many of the gig-goers too.
We are blasted with a visual cacophony of random animations, lights, acrobatics and structures that leave half the audience bewildered. It almost felt like Katy had asked ChatGPT to design her a show and she just said yes to everything it suggested. The storyline was bizarre and so many people around me were asking each other what was going on. In Katy’s defence though, she did describe herself as crazy and odd, so perhaps the whole show is reflective of this.
Madness aside, Perry still stuns with brilliant vocals and gets the whole crowd absolutely bopping to her classics like ‘Teenage Dream’, ‘Hot And Cold’ and ‘I Kissed A Girl’ – the audience went wild, and so did I.
There’s quite a lot of chat during the show too, which if you’re a die hard KatyCat you’d probably enjoy more than I did, who just wanted to sing and dance. Perry picked random fans from the audience to come on stage with her, and we shared some sweet moments with people who were absolutely besotted with her. One fan had even flown from Shanghai and had a custom coat with a huge train and message on for Katy.
As the show starts to come to a conclusion, Katy rides around the bowl on a giant (ugly) butterfly which also didn’t make much sense but it was exciting when she flew so close – she might be chaotic, but she is still a superstar.
The show closes on ‘Firework’, an absolutely sensational crowd pleaser that had every single person out of their seats singing and dancing which was a real sight to see. Her fans really really love her.
If you want to hear some nostalgic tunes, have a great song and dance whilst also feeling completely confused and bewildered, then this is the show for you.
About The Mezz at the AO Arena
The Mezz is the AO Arena’s new VIP bar and restaurant, unveiled last year as part of the arena’s £50m redevelopment.
The luxurious new space elevates the gig-going experience with five-star hospitality before, during and after every show at the huge venue.
For our Katy Perry visit, we had a fantastic host who took great care of my guest and I. We tucked into a delicious five course tasting menu, with the vegetarian options having been carefully considered rather than feeling like an afterthought.
If you’ve not been to the AO Arena recently, the whole concourse has had a facelift, giving an expensive and upmarket feel with an expanded food and drink offering and a smart layout. There’s a reason it is the home of great music and shows and acts love to come back here.
Dolly Busby -
10th December 2021 
