Lynda La Plante Slams Richard Osman, Pretends to Vomit in Rant

Lynda La Plante has slammed fellow author Richard Osman in a scathing rant, revealing she switches off the TV whenever he appears.

The best-selling crime author, 82, appeared on a The Ryan Tubridy on Virgin Radio on Thursday, where she didn’t hold back on her thoughts of the former Pointless star, 54 – even pretending to vomit when discussing him. 

When asked who her biggest competition was these days, Lynda initially remained coy as she responded ‘everybody’, but soon singled out Richard when pushed for a name.

Sharing her thoughts on the Thursday Murder Club author, Lynda hit out at the frequency of his TV appearances, even suggesting the success of his books was down to his constant presence on television. 

She told Ryan: ‘My bete noire… Richard Osman. Now the reality is… I mean you can’t watch any program on television without him looming in it and I immediately turn it off. 

‘I can’t stand it because then people say “well how do you think his books shoot to number one?” You know and a big movie made of his last book and you go, “if you’re on TV every 10 minutes , your public will buy you” and that is it. It is so important for writers like me to get on shows like yours, because it really does reach out to readers. 

Lynda La Plante has slammed fellow author Richard Osman in a scathing rant, revealing she switches off the TV whenever he appears [pictured in 2021]

Lynda, 82, appeared on a The Ryan Tubridy on Virgin Radio on Thursday, where she didn’t hold back on her thoughts of the Pointless star, 54 – even pretending to vomit when discussing him [Richard pictured in 2024]

The Prime Suspect writer then proceeded to pretend to vomit during the interview. 

Presenter Ryan then went on to say how refreshing it was to hear a guest being so honest, to which the screenwriter and ex actress noted that it’s ‘difficult’ to do so as she’ll be ‘attacked’.

She responded: ‘No you’re not allowed to be honest. You’ve got to be lovely to everybody.

This is what is often very difficult. You can’t actually be rude about anybody because then you’ll be attacked or my publishers will tell me off. Everybody will tell me off don’t swear don’t do this don’t do that and you get a little bit paranoid.’

In response to Ryan’s comments about her being a woman who speaks her mind, Lynda added: ‘I’d love to but I’m not allowed to.’ 

Lynda has produced some of British TV’s most successful detective show, is renowned for creating strong female characters in TV dramas such as Prime Suspect, Widows and Trial And Retribution. 

Lynda’s words against Richard comes after he recently admitted he pined for his wife Ingrid Oliver over a protracted 12-month period before finally meeting her for the first time on the set of a BBC quiz show. 

Osman exchanged vows with the actress in 2022 following a whirlwind romance that began two years earlier, when she featured as a guest on his popular House Of Games TV series. 

Sharing her thoughts on the Thursday Murder Club author, Lynda hit out at the frequency of his TV appearances, even suggesting the success of his books was down to his constant presence on television

‘My bete noire… Richard Osman. Now the reality is… I mean you can’t watch any program on television without him looming in it and I immediately turn it off’

But the presenter and author admits he was already interested in Oliver – best known for her former role as Petronella Osgood in Doctor Who – through their previous interactions on social media. 

‘I was aware of Ingrid from social media and thought she was very funny, but beyond a single tweet we’d never communicated,’ he told The Sunday Times. 

‘I asked our mutual friend, the comedian Lou Sanders, to check if Ingrid was available. She wasn’t. Twelve months later, in 2021, Ingrid was a guest on my quiz show House of Games. 

‘This time Lou told me Ingrid was available, so I spent a long day in front of the cameras desperately trying not to flirt. I made eye contact less with her than any other guest ever.’