BOXING clever!

STEPHEN MULHERN on reviving a game of intuition

DEAL OR NO DEAL
 MONDAY-FRIDAY,
4PM, ITV1 GAME SHOW

Stephen Mulhern is thrilled to be at the helm of ITV1’s much-anticipated reboot of game show Deal or No Deal. ‘Honestly, this is the dream

job!’ smiles the popular presenter, 46, as TV Times catches up with him for an exclusive interview during a break in filming the 20-part series at ITV’s London HQ. ‘I loved the original – I’d run home to watch it every day!’

The show first ran on C4 between 2005 and 2016 with Noel Edmonds on hosting duties, and the revamped version will again see players faced with 22 sealed boxes, each containing a different amount of money. They must eliminate the boxes, one at a time, in a quest to win a big cash prize. But, along the way, mysterious figure ‘The Banker’ will be tempting them with cash offers in exchange for what might be inside their box.

Here, Stephen tells us more…

What is it about Deal or No Deal that you love so much, Stephen?

It’s the perfect game show as it has a simple format that delivers everything – jeopardy, happiness, sadness, excitement and intrigue. It ticks every box…

Is it true that when you got the job, you started practising the game at home using cereal boxes?

Yes, but I actually moved on from cereal boxes to a real, red Deal or No Deal box from the C4 days. When we were doing a run-through, I spotted it on a shelf in the production office and swiped it away to practise with!