Quiz contest The Finish Line is back on daytime TV for a third season, and Sarah Greene couldn't be happier to be reunited with her onscreen co-host Roman Kemp.
“He’s heard me say this a hundred times over, but I do consider him my TV son,” says Sarah, 67. “I’m there purely to look after him, and he looks after me too. He’s the only one I want.”
Roman, 32, shares her excitement. For him, returning to the BBC quiz contest – where players race against each other by answering general knowledge questions as quickly as possible – was a no-brainer.
“I would never do a show I don’t enjoy,” he says. “For quiz shows, series three is a bit of a myth. So many don’t make it to that.”
Fans of The Finish Line can expect more changes to the format this season. The second series saw the track extended, making for an even more nail-biting finish, and now, Sarah has teased a brand new end zone.
“You haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen our supercharged end zone,” she says. “It almost sets the studio alight as people are getting towards the finish line. Roman also gets through more questions on this series than the last two put together!”
With the margin for error razor-thin, Roman loves the thrill of watching players push themselves to the limit. But he admits he takes some guilty pleasure in their mistakes.
“You’re going to see a lot of people fail this season,” he reveals. “And there’s a sick part of me that quite enjoys seeing people set on victory and not make it.”
Sarah, on the other hand, is all about the underdogs. “It’s very compelling for viewers to see someone who comes in a little more unsure of themselves,” she says. “Then they shine because the questions have gone in their direction. That’s purely random.”
But for both Sarah and Roman there’s one major challenge filming the show – keeping an impassive face as the players answer questions.
“Roman has a much better poker face than I do,” says Sarah. “You can read my face from a mile off. I have to remind myself I’m pretending to be Richard Osman on Pointless. That’s the acting skill coming in.”
The show is not just about winning – it’s about why people play. This season, Roman was particularly moved by one contestant’s story.
“He came on wanting to win money for his dad. He didn’t think his dad would be around for much longer, and he wanted to take him to see a Six Nations rugby match, travel, do things only money can buy,” he says. “I won’t give it away if he did it, but you can’t help but root for someone lik...
“He’s heard me say this a hundred times over, but I do consider him my TV son,” says Sarah, 67. “I’m there purely to look after him, and he looks after me too. He’s the only one I want.”
Roman, 32, shares her excitement. For him, returning to the BBC quiz contest – where players race against each other by answering general knowledge questions as quickly as possible – was a no-brainer.
“I would never do a show I don’t enjoy,” he says. “For quiz shows, series three is a bit of a myth. So many don’t make it to that.”
Fans of The Finish Line can expect more changes to the format this season. The second series saw the track extended, making for an even more nail-biting finish, and now, Sarah has teased a brand new end zone.
“You haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen our supercharged end zone,” she says. “It almost sets the studio alight as people are getting towards the finish line. Roman also gets through more questions on this series than the last two put together!”
With the margin for error razor-thin, Roman loves the thrill of watching players push themselves to the limit. But he admits he takes some guilty pleasure in their mistakes.
“You’re going to see a lot of people fail this season,” he reveals. “And there’s a sick part of me that quite enjoys seeing people set on victory and not make it.”
Sarah, on the other hand, is all about the underdogs. “It’s very compelling for viewers to see someone who comes in a little more unsure of themselves,” she says. “Then they shine because the questions have gone in their direction. That’s purely random.”
But for both Sarah and Roman there’s one major challenge filming the show – keeping an impassive face as the players answer questions.
“Roman has a much better poker face than I do,” says Sarah. “You can read my face from a mile off. I have to remind myself I’m pretending to be Richard Osman on Pointless. That’s the acting skill coming in.”
The show is not just about winning – it’s about why people play. This season, Roman was particularly moved by one contestant’s story.
“He came on wanting to win money for his dad. He didn’t think his dad would be around for much longer, and he wanted to take him to see a Six Nations rugby match, travel, do things only money can buy,” he says. “I won’t give it away if he did it, but you can’t help but root for someone lik...
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New UK (Digital) - 1 Issue, March 10, 2025