Dermot O’Leary has landed his own game show on UKTV’s Dave, months after failing to replace Phillip Schofield as full-time presenter of This Morning.
Dermot, 51, follows in the footsteps of co-presenter Alison Hammond and spreads his wings, also starring in the series alongside comedian Katherine Ryan, 41.
The show, produced by GMB’s Richard Bacon, will see the studio audience trying not to laugh as they are entertained by a host of comedians, in a bid to bag a share of the £250,000 prize.
Dermot, who presented X Factor on ITV between 2007 and 2018, said Sun:When a program like this falls into your hands, you can’t believe your luck.
“I’m looking forward to having a lot of fun.”
Dermot O’Leary, 50, has landed his own game show on UKTV’s Dave, months after failing to replace Phillip Schofield as full-time presenter of This Morning.
Dermot, 51, is following in the footsteps of co-presenter Alison Hammond and spreading his wings, and will front the series alongside comedian Katherine Ryan, 41 (Dermot and Alison pictured).
The show will see the studio audience trying not to laugh while being entertained by a host of comedians, in a bid to bag a share of the £250K prize (Katherine Ryan pictured)
While producer Richard told the publication: “What does it feel like to not be allowed to laugh at a funeral? That’s it – the pageant.”
MailOnline has contacted representatives for UKTV and Katherine Ryan for further comment.
Alison, 49, and Dermot, who present ITV’s Friday show and bank holiday coverage, were “snubbed” from the top job and Cat Deeley, 47, and Ben Shephard, 49, replaced Phillip and Holly Willoughby in March.
As well as presenting For The Love Of Dogs on ITV and Bake Off on Channel 4, Alison has also signed on to present two shows on rival broadcaster the BBC.
One will see it She will spend 48 hours with some of the UK’s best-loved celebrities and step into their homes to give fans a glimpse into their glamorous lives on Alison Hammond’s Big Weekend.
The BBC has also reportedly approached the TV star to host a travel show called Florida Unpacked, which could compete in the daytime schedule with This Morning.
This comes after This Morning’s viewing figures ‘dropped by half’, according to new reports.
Dermot, who presented X Factor on ITV between 2007 and 2018 (pictured), said: ‘When a show like this falls into your lap you can’t believe your luck.
GMB’s Richard Bacon, who produces the new show, said: “What does it feel like to not be allowed to laugh at a funeral? That’s it – the quiz show.”
As well as presenting For The Love Of Dogs on ITV and Bake Off (pictured) on Channel 4, Alison has also signed on to present two shows on rival broadcaster the BBC.
The BBC has also reportedly approached the TV star about hosting a travel show called Florida Unpacked, which could compete in the daytime line-up with This Morning (pictured, ITV’s For The Love of Dogs).
Since presenters Cat and Ben took over, half a million viewers have stopped tuning in to the ITV daytime show.
With over a million viewers watching on its first day back in March, two months later the numbers now stand at less than 500,000 – a dramatic drop.
The drop in viewers comes after former This Morning presenter Fern Britton, 66, hinted she is “in talks to return to the ITV show”.
According Sun, A source said: ‘Ben and Cat’s arrival was supposed to spark a revival and hopefully keep ratings above a million. But within a couple of weeks it became clear they had failed to deliver, while their nemesis Morning Live remained strong.
MailOnline has contacted ITV for comment.
Former This Morning presenter Fern has hinted she is in talks with This Morning bosses about returning to the show, 15 years after her exit.
The presenter revealed that ITV approached her to make a series of films for the show, following her guest appearance earlier this year.
Cat Deeley, 47, and Ben Shephard, 49, landed the jobs as main presenters of This Morning in March.
The pair replaced Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield (pictured in the programme in 2023).
Speaking to Women and Home MagazineFern also reflected on her “difficult” divorce from celebrity chef Phil Vickery and vowed to never marry again.
She said: ‘When my interview was over and I was leaving the studio, a member of the production team came up to me and said, ‘Would you like to do some little films with us?’
“That conversation hasn’t happened yet, but those little four-minute films every now and then? Perfect. If I could do them in Cornwall, it would be even more perfect!”
‘A lot of the crew I worked with are still there and it was a real trip down memory lane. It was wonderful to be around people who meant a lot to me.
‘The morning I quit, I hadn’t even thought about leaving the show, so I left behind a lot of good things and a lot of good friends, so (coming back) was lovely.’