Extra Deal takes toll on Noel’s tipple
By Ray Murricane

Since January, the ever-popular Channel 4 gameshow, Deal or No Deal, has enjoyed a new timeslot of sixty-five minutes – twenty minutes more than the forty-five minute slot that viewers had got used to, since the show’s launch in the UK in 2005. The benefits for viewers and contestants of the show is that the extra twenty minutes mean an extra helping of Noel and the famous red boxes. But it’s become apparent that one person in particular has found a flaw with the new-length show.

According to a recent contestant, 62-year-old host Noel Edmonds, most famous for his House Party days of the 1990s, is unhappy with what now happens to the drink he regularly sips during recordings. Fans of the show will know that Noel has commented on several occasions that his favourite drink is ginger and lemongrass cordial, and he is never without a mug of it during recordings.

Contestant Frank Petal-de-Loire, a 63-year-old ex-miner from Barnsley, told us, “Noel would often become anxious during the last 20 minutes of a recording. I overheard the crew saying, ‘It’s his grass again’, referring to his lemongrass drink”. Mr Petal-de-Loire went on to tell us that Noel has a routine when he sips the drink, and the extra twenty minutes of the show means Noel either has to finish drinking early, or change his habits to ensure he has enough drink to last him to the end of each recording”.

Drinks R Us, the main supplier of the ginger and lemongrass cordial, confirmed to us that a mug of ginger and lemongrass can change taste if it is left for too long. Lotty Mooneye, a spokesman for the company, said, “We fully understand Noel’s concerns, and are working on a mug for him which he can use to preserve the lemongrass for the entire duration of a recording”.

Ms Mooneye exclusively supplied us with drawings and details of this special “Noel mug”. You can see them here - http://www.bristolstandard.co.uk/news/noel-edmonds-tipple/article-3399182-detail/article.html