Comedian Jimmy Carr faced merciless teasing from his 8 Out Of 10 Cats co-hosts last night after dominating the headlines this week over his tax affairs.
Carr fronted the Channel 4 comedy panel game tomorrow for the first time since the news broke about him using a complex scheme to avoid paying HM Revenue and Customs.
Team captain Sean Lock waded in by telling Carr: "We all like to put a bit of money away for a rainy day, don't we? But I think you're more prepared than Noah."
When he heard Carr was on the front pages of newspapers, Lock joked that he feared much worse.
He said: "I was expecting to see one of those white police tents in the background and a copper holding a laptop in a see-through carrier bag."
Broadcaster Georgie Thompson then added: "On the plus side, at least you've been in a top 5 list of something."
Carr, whose tax affairs drew a string of criticism including from British prime minister David Cameron, said: "I've been dishing it out for years, it's about time I got some."
And he went on: "I hate to sound like I'm passing the buck, but I'll tell you who I blame for this whole mess - me. It's entirely my fault."
In a statement in which he admitted making a "terrible error of judgment", Carr said he met a financial adviser who asked: "Do you want to pay less tax? It's totally legal."
In the show, Lock challenges Carr on that exchange by asking him: "Can you answer, when you were having this conversation, were you on a telephone and was there a thick plastic glass between the two of you?
"And did he have on a sort of boiler suit-type uniform? And a very sort of brutal haircut?
“Because the best accountants, that’s where they are - in jail. They flew too close to the sun.
“They dreamed, they dared to dream.”
Lock suggested that Carr should have gone to his accountant.
“Best accountant in the world,” he said. “I’ve got Stephen Hawking. He’s put my money in another dimension.”
PA