- Let's get on with the show.
All of tonight's guest have brought in a fact
that they really love but whose is best?
It's time for round one Fact Off.
(upbeat music)
Sarah, you're up first, what is your fact?
- My fact is that people eat more food when in company.
- So, the more people, the more you eat?
- Yeah, it depends on the group.
So, if you're with sort of two people
it's less than if it's with nine people, it's more.
But it can be up to 50% more food.
I love the fact though
because it sort of allows me to eat more when I'm out.
It's like, well, science said it's true
so I must back it up.
- Like for me, I definitely eat more when I'm in a group,
just so that I make sure,
you know, we're splitting the bill.
I wanna get my fill.
I've got a friend who I go out with regularly
purely because of this.
I don't even really like her
because she always panics that we haven't ordered enough.
So, we always order way too much.
It is interesting, 'cause you know you can
at any point order more.
You just wanna make sure that it all comes
and there's loads of it
and that you can stay there for days.
- I would love the idea of eating out with you.
- You can if you want. - What would you like
to eat Sarah?
I don't care, as long as it all comes
and there's loads of it.
(laughs)
- That's basically it.
- I wonder if it works in negative as well.
So the more sort of isolated you get the more you eat.
I mean, if you've been dumped and your indoors
with the blinds down,
I tend to go through a lot of Ben and Jerry's.
- Enough of the fellas names.
(laughs)
I just got over it with a fella called Haagen Dazs.
(laughs)
So, Ronald, I'm still fascinated
by what you eat on these expeditions.
- You can only carry 5,000 calories per day,
but you're actually using 8,500 calories a day
just to get the 16 miles you have to do.
And therefore fats gives you far more calories
for less weight than what protein and carbohydrates does.
So we're eating 68% fat for three months
which gives you a heart attack.
So, as a result, I had a heart attack on an aeroplane,
it was EasyJet, so.
(laughs)
- I think you've taken that whole,
just get out and have some fresh air, a bit too seriously.
(laughs)
- The ultimate expression
is the all you can eat working-class buffet.
So, when I was 17,
and I did all these chicken tikka masalas,
they kept coming and then stood up
and that's the last thing I remember.
I couldn't believe it, I hit the deck and passed out.
When I came round, there was blood jetting
out of my forehead.
I'd hit my head so hard from eating so much,
I was concussed and couldn't speak.
So, I arrived at casualty in a wheelchair like that
and my dad rushed up the hospital.
So, my dad was saying, "Tell us what you're on boy,
we'll get you off this gear!"
As soon as he can, I was just trying to say, "Masala",
but I couldn't get out.
- So good you'd be collapsed on the floor and not the table,
'cause someone would've eaten you.
- Yeah.
(laughs)
- You've heard about this lot thing.
There's only one way to find out for sure.
So we put it to the test.
(types)
(upbeat music)
- [Presenter] We love our food.
(baby laughs)
And no matter whether you're a fan
of traditional fish and chips or prefer a curry.
Apparently we'll always eat more
when in the company of others.
Let our expert explain.
Adults consume more food
when eating in the presence of others
than when eating alone.
This falls under a phenomenon called social facilitation
defined by an increase in behaviour
merely by the sight or sound of others
also engaging in a similar behaviour.
When in groups, we tend to copy what other people are doing
without thinking.
If someone is having a large meal
or perhaps choosing something unhealthy.
Then we're inclined to imitate their behaviour.
And this effect is strongest
if we have an emotional connection with them.
It's almost like we feel we have a licence to
eat as much as them.
And we're less self-conscious
about what the group will think.
And as a result, we tend to eat more food.
- [Presenter] That's food for thought.
(Italian music)
Let's find out if it's true.
To test this theory, we set up cameras in a pizza restaurant
to see how much people eat in different-sized groups.
There were strict rules.
All pizzas were 10 inches in diameter,
cut evenly into eight slices.
Whenever two slices were left
the whole pizza was replenished
just in case people were too polite
to take the final slices.
(snazzy music)
Two groups of the same size were used each time
to provide a fair average.
First, two in each group.
We supplied them with as much pizza as they wanted.
None of our volunteers knew precisely
what we were looking for.
All they knew was that it was a social experiment.
We were interested to discover how much pizza
each one of our pairs would eat.
(upbeat music)
We counted how many pizza slices they consumed.
On average, they had six slices each.
And now, we increased the size of the groups.
We doubled the number of people for the next test
using two new groups of four.
(Italian music)
If our theory was true, the amount of pizza
that's eaten by each person should increase.
This time, on average,
each person consumed 8.5 pizza slices.
Before, it had been six.
(upbeat music)
To be certain that people eat more in groups,
we invited two larger groups of eight to take part.
People in these groups should be much more inclined to eat.
The groups were given pizza after pizza.
It was time to see if our theory still held good.
We compared the amounts eaten
and were very surprised by the results.
The groups of eight scoffed 185 pizza slices.
(fast-paced music)
That's an average of 11.5 slices each.
Three slices more than our groups of four
and incredibly, almost twice the amount of pizza
our pairs consumed.
So, in groups, we do eat a lot more food.
Mama mia!
(audience applauds)
- True story and interesting facts
about that pizza experiment
is that results were actually delivered to us an hour late
and we got a free bottle of Fanta.
(laughs)
But that was pretty conclusive, right?
- Yeah. - Yeah.
I'm not surprised.
I think human beings as a whole, when we're in a group
we tend to mirror each other more.
So, it was something I've read recently, really interesting,
there's a disparity between how long men live
and women live.
We live five years less than women.
(laughs)
- They're so sympathetic.
- There are certain areas of the world
where men have the same life expectancy as women
and they couldn't work out what it was.
But it's this, the less a man is part of a group
the sooner he is likely to die,
which is most men starting to isolate themselves.
But in these little Sardinian villages
the old men their houses have got all the old ladies
and the nanas walking through every day
and they've got constant neurological stimulation.
The life expectancy gap is closed.
Therefore, men think themselves to death
by being miserable bastards.
(laughs)
- Sardinians have a bigger advantage
to be in a group though,
because they're always packed together
in small tight spaces.
(laughs)
Now thankfully, we are joined by our resident experts
who can tell us a little bit more about this fact.
So, please welcome specialist in cell biology and genetics
Dr. Emily Grossman.
Rocket scientists, Dr. Simon foster
and expert in space and mechanical engineering,
Dr. Maggie Aderin-Pocock.
It's our verifiers.
(audience applauds)
So, are we doing this a lot?
- In fact, it's the opposite.
And Russell, this is not good news
because more and more of us are eating on our own.
Half the UK men actually have at least one meal
on their own every day.
So, it's not very good for the life expectancy
of the population.
But we are eating more meals on our own.
- How many meals are we supposed to be having again?
- On average, it's meant to be three
but that is very variable. - Oh really?
Is it? Oh good!
Thank God for that.
That's from a scientist as well, hurray!
(laughs)
- The thing that confuses me,
if we're supposed to eat more when we're in a group.
How come The Rolling Stones
don't look like they've eaten since 1968?
So, that was Sarah's fact, but how good was it?
That's down to our studio audience.
So, using your keypads on a scale of one to 10,
how impressed were you?
Please vote now.
(upbeat music)
So, let's find out what the average rating was
from our audience, healthy six Sarah.
(audience applauds)
Not bad out of 200 is it?
(laughs)
You would've got a higher score
if it wasn't for certain people in the audience
who gave you a one.
- No! - And I think
they think they don't know. - Point them out!
- We've got their names on this bit of technology.
What about Henry Gardner?
Where are you Henry Gardner?
Hi Henry.
Are you a?
- No I'm not a gardener, actually.
- No I meant a hoover.
(laughs)
(audience applauds)
Why don't you like her fact?
- Just didn't think it was interesting, sorry.
- That's all right.
- Have you got a girlfriend?
- Right, do you eat out in groups or?
- [Girlfriend] Yeah.
- Do you find that you eat more?
- [Girlfriend] Yeah, way more.
- And when you're on your own you don't eat so much?
- No, I'm usually quite busy on my own.
- So you don't have time to eat, have you?
- Yeah. - You're eating less.
So, I think all in all,
we can summarise this as a fairly interesting fact!
Wouldn't you agree madam? - Yeah.
- And yet your boyfriend, who let me tell you now,
is was a bit dull, you started it Henry!
(laughs)
Oh, finish with him, find yourself somebody called Dyson.
(laughs)
- [Sarah] Hello, I'm Sarah Millican
and thanks very much for watching my videos.
I'm going on tour with a brand new show called Bobby Dazzler
for all the information about where I'm going and when,
go to sarahmillican.co.uk.
Thanks!