Richard Ayoade encountered his worst fear head-on in Friday's (September 22) edition of The Crystal Maze: a group of sassy, excitable cheerleaders!
The Maze Master has given us our fair share of highlights throughout this revival series — from endlessly mocking one of the worst-ever Crystal Maze teams to bringing back a classic contestant — but his banter with The Cheerleaders while guiding them through the four zones might be the topper.
Without a doubt, it was one of the most LOL-inducing hours of TV in recent memory, so follow along with us on The Cheerleaders' road to… The Crystal Dome!
It was high energy from the off, courtesy of The Cheerleaders.
First off was the Futuristic Zone, where Hannah tackled a mystery game... because she loves mysteries! This particular mystery game required her to match musical tones in order to unlock a crystal. Or not unlock a crystal, in this case.
To the Medieval Zone, where team captain Jayde had to guess popular phrases using only dolls as clues (yes, really!). With guesses like 'shoe pair', 'soldier house' and 'shoe duck', it was another fail.
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The Cheerleaders recovered enough to head into the Aztec Zone with three crystals, but only after losing team captain Jayde to a lock-in.
Sooo... how is Richard coping with the endless bombardment of cheer? Not well. He's even started giving them quiz answers!
In the end, the Cheerleaders earned 20 seconds in The Crystal Dome, and walked away with... nothing. Nothing except endless cheer.
Expect even more wit and wisdom from Richard Ayoade to be headed your way when The Crystal Maze continues next Friday night (September 29) at 8pm on Channel 4. Don't forget your pompoms!
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Justin is a freelance entertainment journalist and writer. He first joined Digital Spy as a freelance entertainment reporter in 2010 and also worked as a sub-editor for the brand, serving as Night News Editor from 2016 to 2024. Over more than a decade, Justin has covered numerous major entertainment events from the US and has interviewed a wide-ranging group of public figures, from comedian Steve Coogan to icons from the Star Trek universe, cast members from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and reality stars from numerous Real Housewives cities and the Below Deck franchise. Justin has also been on the ground to cover major pop culture events like the Star Wars Celebration and the D23 Expo. He's written for titles across the Hearst network, plus the likes of CBR and Us Weekly.
