Joel Dommett has revealed his plans to replace Gino D’Acampo on one of his TV shows as he admitted ‘I’ve been waiting for that’ on a comedy podcast.
The 39-year-old is currently the presenter of The Masked Singer and I’m A Celebrity: Unpacked but it seems Joel is looking to add another programme to his roster.
Speaking on James Gill and Tim Lewis’ Always Be comedy podcast, the ITV host said he is eyeing up Family Fortunes as his next presenting gig amid the recent “sexually inappropriate behaviour” accusations against Gino, which the TV chef has firmly denied.
In light of these claims, ITV has pulled all of D’Acampo’s shows from their schedule and pre-filmed episodes of Family Fortunes will no longer be aired.
This news appears to be music to Dommett’s ears who was quick to realise that there may be a job up for grabs soon. The channel has not yet confirmed official plans for the show’s future but the presenter already seems to have his eyes firmly on the prize.
On the podcast, he said: “Now Gino D’Acampo is gone, maybe I’ve got the chance to slide in. I’ve been waiting for that”.
He continued: “Honestly, Family Fortunes for me is the best show on telly and I know people will say, ‘What are you talking about?’. The perfect format is where the right answer or wrong answer are both satisfying, but that’s so hard to achieve.”
The show sees two families compete against each other, and both try to guess the most popular answers to survey questions that were previously put to a large group of people. The family with the most correct answers wins the cash prize.
Family Fortunes first debuted in the UK in 1980 and has seen multiple male hosts over the years including Bob Monkhouse, Max Bygraves, Les Dennis, and Andy Collins before it ended in 2002.
Vernon Kay then presented an All-Stars version of the game show from 2006 to 2015 before it was revamped in 2020 with Gino D’Acampo at the helm who has aired three seasons at the forefront.
However, it seems his time may also now be up and Dommett is eyeing up the role for himself.
The Masked Singer host revealed if he was given the chance to lead then he’d take inspiration from the American version, Family Feud, which began in 1976.
He said: “I really think Family Feud, the American version, is the best telly show in the world. So I would love to do the UK gig, but I would turn it into a different show.
“The American one leads you down a fun garden path with every answer, so when they say “name a race”, they want you to say “the 100 metres” or “a heptathlon”, but someone says “Chinese people” and everyone laughs. That’s what you need in it!”