Gary Lineker to host new ITV game show
Gary Lineker will reportedly host The Box, a new celebrity game show for ITV.
Gary Lineker will host a new game show on ITV.
The former Match of the Day host - who left the football highlights show in May after 26 years - will front new Saturday night entertainment programme The Box, which is based on a Norwegian programme and sees 12 celebrities put into boxes and asked to undertake daring challenges.
A source told The Sun newspaper: “The Box is massive in Norway, and the rights were quickly sold to Denmark and now the UK.
"ITV are really excited about it - and believe they have finally found a worthy successor to Saturday Night Takeaway.
“They have long been sniffing around Gary and just needed to find the right format for him.
“They’re confident they’ve found that now, and the BBC’s loss is their gain.”
The show has been described as a cross between I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! and SAS: Who Dares Wins and is expected to take the early evening slot left vacant by the end of Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway when it airs next year.
An insider said: “The scheduling hasn’t yet been confirmed but filming takes place in the autumn, and the series is due to air early spring.
“It looks likely to get a Saturday night slot though, but obviously it’s all still to play for.”
If it does take the Saturday slot, Gary - who had been due to present next season's FA Cup and the 2026 World Cup for the BBC but stepped down early after becoming embroiled in controversy over his social media use - will be able to relax and enjoy himself on screen because he previously admitted he was looking forward to getting free time at the weekends.
The former England striker told the Beyond the Title podcast: "Do you know what I'm looking forward to?
"I haven't really had weekends in my life as an adult. I've always played football at the weekends and now broadcast football at the weekend.
"So I'm looking forward to a few Saturday nights, going out for dinner and things like that."
Lineker felt it was "responsible" to step away from his BBC commitments after sharing a pro-Palestine social media post that featured an emoji of a rat – which has been used in antisemitic propaganda to represent Jewish people.
He said in a statement: "Football has been at the heart of my life for as long as I can remember - both on the pitch and in the studio.
"I care deeply about the game, and about the work I've done with the BBC over many years. As I've said, I would never consciously repost anything antisemitic - it goes against everything I stand for.
"However, I recognise the error and upset that I caused, and reiterate how sorry I am. Stepping back now feels like the responsible course of action."
