Gogglebox star gives tips to media students at West Notts College

Baasit Siddiqui has appeared on the Channel 4 show, alongside his brother Umar and father Sid, since it started in 2013, and visited West Nottinghamshire College to deliver his ‘Let’s Pitch It’ educational workshops.

The former teacher combines his role as an armchair TV critic with running his own company, Siddiqui Education, which offers the innovative workshops to schools and colleges across the country.

As part of the one-day workshops, ‘Let’s Pitch It’ sees students working in small groups to plan, present and advertise a new TV show or media concept.

Those on the creative digital media production course at West Notts will now spend the coming weeks preparing their pitches to submit for the competition.

The students from across the country who win the competition will earn digital equipment for their school or college and a trip to studios in London to see the award-winning ‘Gogglebox’ being edited and produced.

One of the West Notts students, Adam Dolman, 17, of Bilsthorpe, said: “Baasit showed us how to create a presentation that people who work in the industry would expect to see whan considering a new TV programme.

“He was really easy to work with and taught me what it’s like in the media industry, so I will know what to expect in the future.”

Classmate Eloise Coates, 18, from Chesterfield, said: “The workshop was really informative, and I learned a lot. I enjoyed working with Baasit. He had lots of great advice.”

Baasit said: “We covered research, planning, communication and teamwork -- all skills that you need in any business and any kind of work.

“I was impressed with the level of creativity and originality of the students at West Notts.

“I witnessed some ideas that I had never heard of before. They gave it a really good go, and I can’t ask for anything more.”