NewsBiscuit

Home shopping presenter Tom Lamb has been forced to concede that he wouldn’t buy ‘most of the tat’ he promotes on his shows. His comments were revealed after Lamb was interviewed at length by the Inland Revenue following a complaint from a viewer who became increasingly concerned that Mr Lamb seemed to be ‘living a lifestyle that his income couldn’t support.’

Retired Tax Inspector Bob Collins, who alerted the authorities, said, ‘He seemed to have already bought one of everything he was selling so I started keeping notes. OK, we all need a vegetable slicer, so at twenty quid that’s not going to break the bank. Then there was the 24ct gold plated necklace at thirty quid he said he’d bought for his daughter, again not unreasonable.’ It transpired that within the hour Mr Lamb had claimed to have spent GBP300 for some diamond earrings for his wife and GBP1200 for a home cinema system. ‘In three weeks alone he’d claimed to have shelled out over twenty-six grand. Obviously he would have spent considerably more if he’d bought all the stuff from regular shops but then it wouldn’t have been so shite.’

A search of Lamb’s tax returns showed an income of GBP39,456 from the Shopping Channel and GBP1,524 declared from personal appearances. But by Mr Collin’s calculations the presenter was spending four or five time his income. Inspectors also suspected that he may be getting the stuff gratis from the companies, without declaring these ‘benefits-in-kind’ it on his returns.

Bob admitted that his suspicions were unfounded. ‘Turns out that everything’s in order,’ he said.’He lives modestly and a search of his house revealed very little expensive jewellery, a five-year-old telly and nothing in the way of exercise equipment. It appears that the QVC presenter’s been lying all along. I feel cheated and really let down. I mean, if you can’t trust an out-of-work actor in a shiny suit trying to flog you a cappuccino maker then who can you trust?’

Team Biscuit

Posted: Jul 21st, 2007 by NewsBiscuit