Radio DJ was offered 'crib sheet' on Celebrity Mastermind

Radio 5 Live presenter Victoria Derbyshire said she was approached to appear on the Christmas special 10 days before it was due to be filmed.

She said she had been concerned that she would not have enough time to prepare her chosen topic - the novels of Thomas Hardy - but said the producers had told her not to worry about re-reading the books because they could provide her with a "crib sheet".

Miss Derbyshire's revelations were made on her show while discussing the poor performance of Minister for Higher Education, David Lammy. He came last with only 13 points on the show.

She added: "I said, 'Thanks, but no thanks.' I don't know if I should reveal this but it was such short notice when they asked me and they said, 'What would your specialist area be?' and it would probably have been the novels of Thomas Hardy.

"They said, 'Well, don't worry about re-reading everything because we can give you a crib sheet.' I'm probably revealing far too much here."

Today Miss Derbyshire said she had not been told which questions would be asked or given any answers but she confirmed that the programme makers had offered her guidance on what she should concentrate on.

"The Celebrity Mastermind team offered research guidance on my specialist subject area," she said. "This is what I meant by crib sheet."

A spokeswoman for the BBC denied it provided any Mastermind contestants with crib sheets but admitted production staff could point contestants to "helpful and accurate resource tools."

But former Mastermind contestant Gavin Fuller, who was the show's youngest winner in 1993 age 24, said it would not surprise him if celebrities got help. "It's probably to prevent people falling completely flat because there have been some terrible performances on that show," he said.