Bingo Celebrities
Bingo is one of the fastest growing popular games both online and offline, with celebrities like Denise Van Outen and Catherine Zeta Jones joining the fun. Check out this article from the Sunday Times in December 2004. Lots of internet bingo sites now have some sort of celebrity endorsement, think of Katie Price at Foxy Bingo, and Sharon Osborne at Gala Bingo.'Bingo is now a fashionable game to play, writer Claire Sawers says in The Sunday Times Scottish edition.
"According to celebrity magazines, a bingo card is now the hottest ticket in town, she writes. "Denise Van Outen is a regular at a club in north London and Catherine Zeta-Jones throws private bingo parties with Michael Douglas at the family home. Apparently the Queen enjoys the odd game for an evening of good old-fashioned fun. Even a recent Robbie Williams video featured him enjoying a few lines of bingo with Daryl Hannah.
"It has even got its political admirers. Bill Clinton reportedly had to be dragged out of a Blackpool bingo hall by his minders while in town for the Labour party conference in 2002.
"With so many A-list converts, it was only a matter of time before the game attracted the middle classes. Earlier this year Harvey Nichols [a trendy department store], a reliable style barometer, held a Clickety Chicks charity bingo evening in its Edinburgh store. With an entrance fee of £55, the organisers were overwhelmed by the response from the rich and style-conscious, all anxious for their number to come up. The 2005 event is already being planned.
"Scottish bingo clubs in general have reported a surge in memberships from 18- to 35-year-olds. Chris Barr, the operations director for Carlton Clubs, is overseeing the construction of a £5.5m 2,000-seat bingo hall at Fife Leisure Park.
"Carlton Clubs have 75,000 members in Scotland alone, and figures show that about a quarter of these are under 35, a stark contrast to last decade’s figures where the vast majority of players were pensioners. Gala bingo, a competitor, has noted similar changes.
"Mintel recently conducted a study on behalf of the British Bingo Association to find out why bingo fans are getting younger. They reported 40% of respondents under 35 said bingo was far more appealing than it used to be. In London, 9% of those surveyed said they preferred bingo to the health club or yoga." '
Read more bingo news.