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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Entertainment
Kyle O'Sullivan & Gemma Jones

Pointless star Richard Osman's lesser known famous rockstar brother

Richard Osman is a household name after co-presenting BBC's Pointless since 2009.

He has since left his role on the quiz show to pursue a career in writing. In a statement, he said: "Pointless has been a joy from start to finish, working alongside my friend Alexander Armstrong, backed by the most wonderful team, and for the best viewers in the world. I will miss everyone so much, but I'm thrilled I'll still be presenting the celebrity shows. I can't thank everyone enough for 12 amazing years."

But while many keep up to date with the 51-year-old's life and next career move, a lot of people won't be aware that he isn't the only famous face in his family. Richard actually has a lesser-known rockstar brother, reported The Mirror.

READ MORE: BBC Pointless bosses reveal who will replace Richard Osman

Richard's older brother, Mat Osman, is a bass guitarist and founding member of one of the biggest Britpop bands in history - Suede. Formed in 1989, Mat and singer Brett Anderson are the only remaining original members of the group, whose debut album was the fastest selling in almost ten years and went to top of the UK charts.

Suede were one of the 'Britpop big four' along with other highly-acclaimed bands Oasis, Blur and Pulp in 1995. Richard used to hear Mat, who is three years older than him, recording demos upstairs at their home when he was a teenager.

Richard told The Douglas Anderson Show: "I have always been a fan. And then it broke for them very, very big in the early 90s, and it was amazing."

When Suede broke up for the first time in 2003, Mat started to provide music for television programmes such as 8 Out of 10 Cats, The Marriage Ref and You Have Been Watching. He returned to play with Suede when the band reformed in 2010, but he has also moved into writing like his younger brother.

Richard's debut novel, The Thursday Murder Club, became a Sunday Times Number One bestseller in September 2020. While Mat's first book, The Ruins, was published in February 2020 and his second, The Ghost Theatre, was acquired by Bloomsbury Publishing in 2022. Mat was also the Londen editor of the email magazine le cool and has had his writing published in British magazines and newspapers, including The Guardian, The Independent and The Observer.

Mat and Richard were raised by their single mum after their dad walked out when Richard was nine-years-old. He told the Mirror: "It was the worst thing that ever happened to me. He just left and I didn’t see him again for 20 years – that’s hard.

"When you’re a kid growing up you’re all right so long as you have a parent who loves and cares for you. It is only when you get older that you realise you really missed that male role model. It derails you and it takes a long time to get back on track. It takes you a lot longer to mature and find yourself."

Richard's mum struggled to make ends meet but managed to keep afloat and raise her two lads by herself. He continued: "Everyone has hard times, it’s just how you respond to them. Adversities when you’re growing up are the things that make you, sometimes they become a strength. But it’s never good, it’s always awful."

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