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Pointless Celebrities: Heart-wrenching ending to last night’s episode leaves viewers bawling their eyes out

More meaningful than ever before

Last night’s episode of Pointless Celebrities left viewers in tears.

On Saturday (April 11), the popular BBC quiz show rounded the episode off with a poignant live music performance.

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Acoustic guitar and folk music legend Ralph McTell performed his classic Streets of London.

The humbling song describes the often ignored poverty and homelessness prevalent in the UK’s capital.

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Ralph’s performance deeply moved viewers (Image credit: BBC)

Tear jerking performance

And a special verse has been added this year in conjunction with the coronavirus pandemic.

Several viewers took to Twitter to share their emotional responses to the song.

One user tweeted: “Streets of London sung so beautifully by @Ralph_McTell at the end of #PointlessCelebrities has undone me”.

Another user simply replied: “Me too” with a crying emoji.

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A further user wrote: “Streets of London always makes me cry. Thanks #PointlessCelebrities and you @richardosman.”

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The classic song explores homelessness (Image credit: BBC)

And another posted: “Noooo #pointlesscelebrities don’t make me lose it now, I haven’t cried all day #ralphmctell #streetsoflondon.”

Streets of London always makes me cry

An additional user replied: “I’ll join you. Always has that effect, but even more so at the moment.”

Updated lyrics

The touching final verse inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic is as follows: “In shop doorways, under bridges, in all our towns and cities

“You can glimpse the makeshift bedding from the corner of your eye

“Remember what you’re seeing barely hides a human being

“We’re all in this together, brother, sister, you and I.”

Read more: Gogglebox viewers beg for extra episodes during lockdown

The heartbreaking rendition featured at the end of the special.

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The celebrity contestants (Credit: BBC)

Presented by Alexander Armstrong and co-host Richard Osman, celebrity guests included Glen Matlock, Slim Jim, Barbara Dickson, Ralph McTell, Keith Duffy, Brian McFadden, Sonique and Toyah Wilcox.

Glen Matlock and Slim Jim reached the final, but ultimately lost out on the jackpot.

However, as it was a celebrity special, £500 was still donated to each of their respective charities.

Rich history

The Streets of London was originally recorded by Ralph in 1969 and released on his album Spiral Staircase.

Despite gaining acclaim, its single version didn’t come out until 1974.

Over 200 artists have since recorded the song. It was re-released as a charity single for homeless charity CRISIS in 2017.

The new recording featured Ralph and Annie Lennox and reached number one in CD singles sales.

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