The Great Celebrity Pottery Throw Down Starts This Weekend

Wonky edges, cracking clay and a whole new batch of potters. It sounds familiar, but Channel 4’s fresh spin on The Great Pottery Throw Down comes with a caveat: all the contestants are celebrities. And unlike the one-off Christmas specials, this is a full-blown series. It’s out soon, too – the first episode of The Great Celebrity Pottery Throw Down lands on Channel 4 on Sunday 13 September. Here’s everything you need to know about the series, including which celebrities will be making their clay-throwing debut.

The Great Celebrity Pottery Throw Down: Release Date, Cast, Challenges & More

It’s a format we’ve all come to love: six amateur potters gather in Britain’s pottery capital, Stoke-on-Trent, to brave the clay and take on a set of ceramic challenges. But this time, all of our contestants are familiar faces – celebrities with a goal to take on the pottery wheel.

Each week, the six celebrities will be set a challenge to create a ceramic masterpiece, with the hope of being crowned the next best potter. But, unlike the regular series, no one’s going home. Instead, all of the contestants will stay on and develop their skills in the pottery studio, under the guidance of the show’s hawk-eyed judges. They will compete for points in each challenge, before battling it out in the final to become this year’s champion.

So, who will come out on top, and who will crack under the pressure? (Either way, they’ll be covered in clay.) All will be revealed in time.

Keith Brymer Jones, Liza Tarbuck and Rich Miller in The Great Celebrity Pottery Throw Down (c) Channel 4

Who Are The Judges?

The usual suspects: long-time judge Keith Brymer Jones returns to deliver some tough but fair critiques (as well as a tear or two), alongside kiln technician-turned-judge Rich Miller.

Who Hosts The Show?

There’s a new presenter in town; while Irish actress Siobhán McSweeney currently hosts the regular series, The Great Celebrity Pottery Throw Down will be hosted by actor, comedian and author Liza Tarbuck. (Away from the stand-up stage, you’ll most likely recognise her for playing Anne Hathaway in the BBC’s Upstart Crow.)

‘I knew I’d enjoy Keith and Rich’s company and I did,’ Tarbuck said of the show. ‘People flourish around emotionally intelligent people, and the boys’ encouragement and kindness really promoted a growth in our newbie potters that was a pleasure to witness. I absolutely loved being there.’

The Great Celebrity Pottery Throw Down: Layton Williams, Fatiha El-Ghorri, Denise Van Outen, Paul Merson, Lucy Beaumont and Richard Herring (c) Channel 4

Who Are This Year’s Potters?

This version of Throw Down differs from the usual series thanks to its selection of potters. As the name suggests, this is a star-studded series, but the six celebrity contestants are no less keen to immerse themselves in the pottery studio.

This year’s batch includes:

• Lucy Beaumont, a comedian, writer and actor
• Fatiha El-Ghorri, a comedian, writer, actor and author
• Richard Herring, a comedian and podcaster
• Paul Merson, a football legend and pundit
• Layton Williams, an actor and star of both stage and screen
• Denise Van Outen, an actress, singer, dancer and presenter

Where Was It Filmed?

If the celebrity potters are to follow in the footsteps of the original series, then they’ll be undertaking their challenges at the Gladstone Pottery Museum in Stoke-on-Trent. 

The Grade II-listed museum features original Victorian workshops (including a handful of bottle ovens), and is open to the public for visits – although you’ll need to watch out for when TV crews are there, as this is when the museum occasionally shuts its doors for filming. Find out more here.

Denise Van Outen on The Great Celebrity Pottery Throw Down (c) Channel 4

Release Schedule & Weekly Themes

The first episode of The Great Celebrity Pottery Throwdown lands on Channel 4 on Sunday 13 September at 7.45pm, with subsequent episodes airing at the same time weekly. Channel 4 has confirmed there will be five episodes in total.

We’ve tracked the release schedule below, and will be updating it regularly with each episode’s challenge:

• 13 September: toothbrush holders
• 20 September
• 27 September
• 4 October
• 11 October

How To Watch & Stream

All episodes of The Great Celebrity Pottery Throw Down will first air on Channel 4 on Sundays (see the release schedule above for more details). Once aired, they will make their way over to Channel 4’s streaming service.

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And while you wait for more episodes to drop, why not catch up on the regular series, The Great Pottery Throw Down, which sees normies battle it out to become Britain’s best potter.

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