“From the beginning, when I got on board, I didn’t want anyone from the channel or production company to be like, ‘Great, we’ve got a gay, disabled woman hosting – now we’ve got free range to fill it with white, straight, non-disabled men.’”

Comedian, writer and actor Rosie Jones was discussing at an RTS event the return of the joyful Out of Order, the Comedy Central show she presents. She added: “The fact that we could see that range of diversity at every point in the production made it such a positive and amazing show. When you represent life in such a great and lovely way, people are so much more open and keen to make the best show they can – and we really, really did.”

Out of Order, which is made by Rumpus Media, had its screen debut in February, going on to win the Gamechanger Programme of the Year at the Broadcast Digital Awards. Series 2 began last month, again hosted by Jones, with Katherine Ryan and Judi Love returning as team captains.

In the show, celebrities have to show their judgement by deciding who, from a lineup of members of the public, has, say, the most tattoos or has been dumped the most.

The great appeal of Out of Order is that it embodies the maxim “don’t judge a book by its cover”, said Jones, who is currently competing on Channel 4 hit comedy Taskmaster. “As a gay, disabled woman, I get judged all day, every day.”

But Out of Order, she said, is a “celebration of everyone’s differences. You might make a snap judgement about somebody, but you’re probably wrong.

“For me, the show [is] about bringing everyone along for the ride and going: ‘Look, we’re all having fun – you judge me and I’ll judge you.”

"As a gay, disabled woman, I get judged all day, every day"

Series producer Hannah Duncombe put the show’s success down to the “combination of format and host”. She added: “It’s so joyful and there’s never a point in the show where you feel bad at laughing at anything that’s happening. Everyone’s having a good time together, and I do think that comes from what Rosie brings to what is already a fun format.”

Rumpus Media ran a behind-the-camera trainee scheme on Out of Order for two people with disabilities. “They were both completely brilliant and [are now] making their careers in television,” said Duncombe, who met Jones nearly a decade ago when she was an assistant producer and Jones – before she found success as a stand-up – was starting out in TV as a researcher.

“It’s a really tough industry to crack,” said Duncombe. “At the moment, there are not a lot of jobs and people are finding things very hard.”

Jones, who has cerebral palsy, added: “I wanted diversity to go on screen… in the crew and production team. For me, having a disability trainee scheme was so important because in a previous life – back when I was a normal person with a normal job, God forbid – I got into TV via a Channel 4 disability trainee scheme.”

When she is the only disabled or gay person on a set, Jones said she “feels a lot of pressure to represent this entire group of people; whereas on this show, when I’m surrounded by uber-women, uber-queer people and uber-disabled people, it not only makes me feel less alone, but it gives me the freedom not to speak for disabled people or queer people.

“It just means that I’m speaking for Rosie, and that is a much more brilliant thing to do, especially when you’re creating comedy.”

‘Rosie Jones: Out of Order Part B Q&A’ was an online RTS event on 16 September. It was hosted by comedian Ashley Storrie and produced by Multitude Media. Watch it here.