Historical Events  TV
Paul Merton

A clip has emerged of a possible Mandela Effect involving the popular British comedian Paul Merton.

Paul is probably best known as a long running panellist on the TV show "Have I Got News For You", in which news is satirised along with different guests each week. Interestingly, the show has also featured in another Mandela Effect story where a few of the popular ones were covered.

Others remember but he doesn't?

It turns out one of the guests in the past was the evil paedophile Jimmy Saville, and Merton was on the panel as usual. The interesting thing is what he says in that clip when he is looking back at Saville's appearance on the show. He describes a supposed outtake where he, Merton, "tore into" Saville and exposed him - but he says this never happened. He says this has even got to the point where "there are people on the internet who claimed to have seen it.". Is he describing a false memory, or could it be an actual Mandela Effect from 1999 without him realizing it?

BBC

Paul Merton changed his name early on in his career from Paul Martin because there already was someone with that name in the business. His first appearance on TV was in the Young Ones, which also features in an unusual Mandela Effect. Known for his improvisation skills, he's been a stand up stalwart in comedy clubs for years, as well as appearing at the Edinburgh fringe, but became best known for his regular appearances on Have I Got News For You from it's inception in 1990.

I didn't know that the victims weren't going to be believed, I didn't know the police forces were doing what they were doing, that he was a friend of Thatcher and all this stuff to make himself particularly invulnerable. He was a strange guy, but this other stuff wasn't known. People said all kinds of things, but that wasn't proof. I just thought he was a strange, strange guy but I didn't believe the stories I heard.

-- Paul Merton