It starts tonight
The Great Pottery Throw Down contestants 2026
The Great Pottery Throw Down is returning to our TV screens tonight. The popular Channel 4 series will see 12 amateur potters battle it out to be crowned the winner of the programme’s ninth series.
Keith Brymer Jones and Richard Miller will return as judges for the new series, putting the potters through their paces. Siobhan McSweeney, star of the hugely successful sitcom Derry Girls, also returns for the new series as presenter.
Contestants will be subjected to a series of challenges as they battle it out to succeed James as champion of The Great Pottery Throw Down. Here’s what viewers can expect from the forthcoming series.
When is The Great Pottery Throw Down 2026 on TV?
The Great Pottery Throw Down will return to Channel 4 on Sunday, January 4 at 7.30pm for the first episode of the ninth series. The new series will air on Sunday evenings.
Who will be presenting The Great Pottery Throw Down 2025?
Siobhan McSweeney will return to present the new series of The Great Pottery Throw Down.
Where is The Great Pottery Throw Down filmed?
The Great Pottery Throw Down is filmed at Stoke-on-Trent’s Gladstone Pottery Museum, which is located in Longton. The museum reopened for 2026 on Friday, January 2.
A total of 12 contestants will do battle to become the next Great Pottery Throw Down winner. Here’s what we know about them:
Andrew
Age: 48
Location: Hampshire
Job: English teacher
Andrew teaches English in a secondary school in London and in his spare time enjoys gardening, painting and sewing, even making his own suit for his wedding. He started potting when a friend invited him along to an evening class, and has been throwing clay for 18 years ever since! Andrew enjoys making functional items and often makes gifts for his students.
Angharad
Age: 34
Location: Bridgend
Job: Communication support worker
Angharad used to work in the wig and makeup department in London’s West End and around the UK before moving back home to Wales in 2018. She now works as a communication support worker, currently assisting her mum who is the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Manager for a cancer charity. Angharad first got her hands on clay during a school trip to a museum but came back to it properly seven years ago when she took a hand-building course. She enjoys making illustrative pieces with lots of colour.
Bill
Age: 33
Location: Herefordshire
Job: Volunteer teaching assistant
Bill has dyslexia, dyspraxia and autism and enjoys living in a quiet, relaxed area. He was introduced to clay when he was young by his grandmother who loved sculpting animals.
Elham
Age: 31
Location: Sheffield
Job: Midwife
Elham’s pottery journey began during ‘nap time’ – a dining table, one bag of clay, a basic tool set, and snippets of time squeezed between family life.
Emily
Age: 39
Location: Inverness
Job: Habitat restoration ecologist
Emily has always loved art subjects but veered towards more academic studies for her A-levels. She never lost touch completely with the art crowd and returned to pottery a few years ago after attending a class with a friend.
Fynn
Age: 37
Location: Cornwall
Job: Tattooist
Fynn was surrounded by creativity growing up, whether it was painting with his grandmother or doing textiles and printmaking with his mother. He first tried pottery as a six week addition to an illustration degree, but it was only two years ago that he began to take his hobby seriously.
Kayleigh
Age: 38
Location: Oxfordshire
Job: Art teacher
Kayleigh is head of art at a prep school and enjoys passing on her creative skills to her students. She was disappointed that her art degree didn’t include ceramics and enrolled on an introductory course, and still attends evening classes now, with her pieces often inspired by folklore stories and nature.
Kaz
Age: 62
Location: Swansea
Job: Former psychiatric nurse
Kaz is currently studying ceramics at Carmarthen School of Art, where she has found a passion for sculpture and is proving to be a quick learner.
Mark
Age: 63
Location: Merseyside
Job: University facilities and estate manager
Mark has a number of hobbies, including sewing, bee-keeping, woodwork, kite flying and canoeing. It was Mark’s bonsai tree hobby that led him to clay, as the square pots were expensive and hard to find so he set out to make his own. He started classes and has now built his own pottery shed at home, acquiring a second-hand wheel that he refurbished himself.
Naveed
Age: 42
Location: Folkestone
Job: Actor and toy shop owner
Naveed was gifted pottery lessons three years ago and went on to do more courses as he loved it so much. It has become a welcome creative outlet and he now has a pottery space set up in his basement.
Olympia
Age: 28
Location: West midlands
Job: Between jobs
Olympia was inspired by pottery videos she spotted online before she started having a go herself. She has since progressed through a mixture of courses and online self-teaching and enjoys being part of her local community pottery studio.
Whitney
Age: 36
Location: Glasgow
Job: Chemistry teacher
Looking to try something new a few years ago, Whitney took pottery lessons and was hooked. He enjoys bringing his scientific background to his potting, being very detailed and precise when making.
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