Holly Willoughby divides fans as she lands new ITV gig on 80s game show revival: 'Find someone new!'

Holly Willoughby is fronting ITV's revamp of You Bet! alongside Stephen Mulhern

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Olivia Ann Gantzer

By Olivia Ann Gantzer


Published: 07/08/2024

- 08:37

The seasoned ITV presenter is set to host another game show later in the year

Holly Willoughby is set to star in an ITV reboot of an iconic 1980s game show alongside her Dancing on Ice co-host Stephen Mulhern.

Having run from 1988 to 1997, You Bet! was previously fronted by Darren Day, who took on the role after Matthew Kelly - while the late Bruce Forsyth hosted the show for the first two years.


It was confirmed on Tuesday that Willoughby, 43 and Mulhern, 47, will present two event specials of the classic show this autumn.

The premise of the game is that a panel of stars as well as a studio audience predict whether each challenger will be able to complete outrageous tasks for the chance to bag a big cash prize.

At the end of the show, the audience votes for their favourite challenger who ends up taking home £10,000. The celebrity with the highest score will also win £10,000 for their chosen charity, while the famous face with the lowest score must take on an entertaining forfeit.

The revamp has been commissioned for two 75-minute-long episodes. On her return to ITV, former This Morning presenter Willoughby said: "I'm so excited to be part of this iconic game show with the fabulous Stephen Mulhern."

Stephen Mulhern

Stephen Mulhern is set to host the ITV revamp alongside Holly Willoughby

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Speaking to The Sun, she continued: "I'm looking forward to seeing the astonishing skills on show from the challengers and which of our celebrity panellists can come out on top."

Mulhern added: "I loved You Bet! as a kid, so I'm very excited to be hosting this with the wonderful Holly Willoughby."

He went on to tell the publication: "From the big and spectacular to the unique and unexpected, I can't wait to see what extraordinary skills the challengers have up their sleeves."

However, the choice of presenters has left some fans fuming as several have accused ITV of "recycling" the same hosts for its shows.

Holly Willoughby

Dancing on Ice hosts Holly Willoughby and Stephen Mulhern will front You Bet! on ITV

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Taking to X following the announcement, one wrote: "ITV taking reduce, reuse, recycle to a new level with their presenters."

"Are these 2 the only presenters ITV have? All this channel does is recycle the same couple of presenters surely there's better choices out there?" another questioned.

A third complained: "Seriously, do ITV not have any other talent to host shows? Same old names over and over again. I get you wanna use your household names but it gets a bit too much sometimes, can't they find someone new."

"The insufferable insipid pairing of Mulhern and Willoughby in a game show reboot. Is there no depth at all at ITV to do anything?" a fourth fumed.

Stephen Mulhern

ITV viewers have complained that Stephen Mulhern and Holly Willoughby are continuously "recycled" by the channel

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Echoing these views, someone else asked: "Isn't there anyone else apart from those two? Getting boring now."

"Is there any other presenters at ITV for quiz shows?" asked yet another person.

However, others were delighted by the news and expressed their excitement at the classic show being revived.

"Great news, but why do they present the same things?" one shared. Another enthused: "Been asking for this for years, just hope they get it right." (sic)

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