Richard Osman may be a familiar face among TV and book fans, but he isn’t the only famous face in his family.
As well as presenting Pointless and Richard Osman’s House of Games, the 54-year-old has forged an extremely successful career as an author thanks to his bestselling series, The Thursday Murder Club. He is also the co-host of The Rest Is Entertainment alongside Marina Hyde and the pair recently took their podcast to the Royal Albert Hall for their first-ever show.
But it turns out that the TV personality isn’t the only person in his family who’s performed in front of thousands. Richard’s brother, Mat Osman, is the bass player in the band Suede.
Having formed in 1989, the Britpop group are known for hits including Animal Nitrate and Pantomime Horse. Since releasing their debut album in 1993, the group have secured three UK number one albums.
Growing up, the brothers were raised by their single mum. “It was the worst thing that ever happened to me,” Richard previously told The Mirror.
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Roberto Finizio/NurPhoto via Getty Images)Image:
Getty Images)“He [his father] 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.”
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.”
During an interview on Virgin Radio the pair spoke fondly of their upbringing and revealed that their mother, who worked as a teacher, never pushed them into following a certain path. Instead, she let them follow their own interests.
“All my mum really did was leave us alone, to tell you the truth. Kids these days, they’ve got to do piano lessons or French lessons. She worked out that Mat liked music, she worked out that I liked watching telly and writing stuff. And she just let us do it, I think, and she loved us,” the Pointless star explained.
Meanwhile, Mat, 57, added: “I think the thing is that your kids are never never going to do what you want them to do. So it's pointless forcing them into something. She just let us be, and we found our own passions, we found the things that we wanted.”
In another interview, the musician opened up about the differences between himself and his younger brother. “The biggest difference between my world and his is that Rick has no interest in being cool. And he never has - it’s quite impressive,” he told The Guardian in 2023.
“At the age of 15 he was writing for a golf magazine. He loves Saturday night TV. He loves Ant and Dec. He loves Busted. He doesn’t want to be Martin Scorsese. And I’ve got so much respect for that.”
Despite their differences, the pair’s career paths have crossed over the years and, in addition to being a founding member of Suede, Mat is also a published author. Two years ago, the brothers took part in a discussion at Hay Festival where they spoke about turning their hands to fiction.
“Such a great event @hayfestival yesterday with my @matosman, talking about #GhostTheatre and #ThursdayMurderClub. Thanks to the brilliant audience, and to everyone who braved the signing queue. Really special day,” Richard wrote on Instagram.
But Richard’s support for his brother isn’t just limited to his writing. Over the years the podcast host has gushed over Mat’s chart-topping music career too, telling 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.”
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