Is the daily choice of player a purely random exercise, or do the Producers decide in advance based on length of time each player has been there, personality etc.

I imagine they prefer to have a stronger personality on a Saturday night for the bigger audience, and I remember Morris saying he didn't think he was Saturday night material (how far from the truth he was. He was terrific entertainment).

And it can't be a coincidence that the player's family always seem to be there when they are picked out (apart from was it Emma D whose sister suddenly appeared half way through the show.) Presumably they rearrange the audience once the contestant is drawn, so that their family are sitting in rows 2 and 3 immediately behind Noel.

Nope, it's not random at all - this is what the producer Glenn Hugill said over on Bother's Bar:

"No it's not random. For some reason the Radio Times said it was, but that didn't come from us. It's always been a selection otherwise we can't guarantee people that they will play within a reasonable time period/have people in the audience etc. The players for each week are selected on Monday and confirmed in threes each weekday morning."

I'm pretty sure the contestants don't know who's playing, though - sometimes someone is called out to play and they say that their partner/friend has just left or was just about to come, so they don't always have people in the audience at the right times.

Re the above : how come when the contestant's partner/friend IS there, they're always seated 3 rows behind Noel in the second seat in on his right hand side?

Surely this must give the 22 contestants an indication of who's going to be picked?

If not all 22, then at least the contestant whose partner is sat in this seat!

I shall reproduce something that I just put in another thread on this matter...

What isn't made clear is that Noel knows who is going to play, a few minutes before the game when he is given the cue card with the player's details on. No-one else on set knows who is going to play. When the player is chosen, there is a fifteen minute break; whilst the player in question calms down, has there microphone fitted and has extra make-up applied. At this point, they move family / friends to the position where they sit in the audience. Then they start filming again and the contestant does the walk of wealth.

And the reason why they're always seated 3 rows behind Noel in the second seat in on his right hand side is probably because its easier for the camera crew.

Thank you for that. Makes sense indeed. I was trying to find this info on other threads but I gave up.

I guess the join between the two segments is pasted together when it cuts to Noel beckoning the player to the "crazy chair/pound table"?

On today's show I was trying to spot who was sitting in the 3rd row back, 2nd seat in, but Noel was obscuring it. It wasn't until after Jaye arrived at the chair that her friend Debs' disticntive lime coloured cardigan could be clearly seen.

Very clever. It got me!

But this wasn't the case in Emma's (Eurovision) game because her boyfriend was sitting in the front row if I am not mistaken