Holly Willoughby is returning to ITV with a gameshow that hasn’t been seen on British TV screens for nearly 30 years.
Willoughby and co-host Stephen Mulhern are fronting You Bet!, a show in which a panel of celebrities and the studio audience must predict if each challenger can complete the extraordinary challenge with which they are faced. Guess correctly and points are added to the celebrities’ score, based on the percentage of studio audience who voted the same way. At the end of the show, the studio audience vote for their favourite challenger who takes home £10,000 ($12,700), while the celebrity with the highest score wins £10,000 for their chosen charity.
You Bet! was an iconic series for ITV between 1988 and 1997, presented by Bruce Forsyth, then Matthew Kelly, then Darren Day. The show used to end with Forsyth doing a rap, while the audience shouted the title. It is based on the ZDF format Wetten Dass? and is being produced by ITV Studios-backed Rollercoaster Television. Two 75-minute specials will air later this year.
Willoughby has been slowly returning to TV since the furore with her ex-Good Morning Britain host Phillip Schofield followed by a man plotting to kidnap her, for which he was recently found guilty. She also presents ITV’s Dancing on Ice and is fronting a new Netflix reality series with Bear Grylls.
“You Bet! is part of a stellar entertainment line up for ITV and ITVX this Autumn, and we are thrilled to have Holly Willoughby and Stephen Mulhern at the helm,” said Katie Rawcliffe, Head of Entertainment Commissioning ITV.
The news comes with the BBC bringing a Gladiators celebrity special to the screen, following the success of the rebooted version earlier this year, which drew millions each week.
You Bet! is a Rollercoaster Television production. The series has been commissioned by Rawcliffe and Louise Major, Entertainment Commissioning Editor ITV. The Executive Producers for Rollercoaster Television are Ben Aston and Jonny Lus.