8 Out of 10 Cats (stylised as 8 out of 10 CATS) is <!-- Do not change to "was", as per WP:TVLEAD --> a British comedy panel show that aired from 3 June 2005 to 17 January 2021. It was first broadcast on Channel 4 from 2005 to 2015, then More4 from 2016 to 2017, and finally E4 from 2017 to 2021. The show was hosted by Jimmy Carr and featured regular team captains Sean Lock, Dave Spikey, Jason Manford, Jon Richardson, Rob Beckett, Aisling Bea and Katherine Ryan.

The show is <!-- Do not change to "was", as per MOS:TVNOW --> based on statistics and opinion polls and draws on polls produced by a variety of organisations and new polls commissioned for the programme, carried out by The Harris Poll.

The title was derived from an old popular misquoting of a well-known advertising tagline for Whiskas cat food, which claimed that "8 out of 10 owners (later advertisements adding "who expressed a preference") said their cats prefer it". (The misquoting may be due to the fact that Whiskas actually trademarked the phrase "8 out of 10 cats prefer Whiskas", even though it was never used that way in the advertisements.)

New and past episodes air across the Channel 4 network of channels, including More4 and E4 Extra, and past episodes are also repeated on U&Dave and Comedy Central.

Overview

The show is hosted by comedian Jimmy Carr and featured two teams consisting of a regular team captain and two celebrity guests each. Sean Lock appeared as a team captain from series 1 to 18. He was replaced by Rob Beckett at the beginning of series 19. The opposing captain was originally Dave Spikey, who left after series 4 and was replaced by Jason Manford. Manford departed following series 10 and was replaced by Jon Richardson for series 11 to 18. From series 19 to 20, the opposing captain was Aisling Bea. However, Katherine Ryan joined as the opposing team captain in series 22.

  • "What Are You Talking About?" – The polling organisation asked the public what they were talking about during the week. The teams have to try to guess the top three.
  • "Pick of the Polls" – The teams are given four pictures to pick from and are given a poll based on that picture.
  • "Believe It or Not" – The teams are given a statistic and try to guess whether it is true or false.
  • "And the Winner Is..." – The teams are given a question from a poll and then try to guess what came on top of that poll.
  • "The Poll with a Hole" – each team is given a statistic, but it is missing one piece of salient information. The teams have to guess what that piece of information is.

Until series 8, there were four rounds during the game. It was later reduced to three.

The points often don't add up correctly, as the show had to be edited to fit its 26-minute slot.

From series 9, there is a longer version of the show called 8 Out of 10 Cats Uncut, broadcast a few days later.

These rounds only featured in series 1 and the Big Brother special shows: