A hit BBC show hosted by Alan Carr is imminently returning – amid rumours of ITV wanting to ‘poach’ the comedian.
Game show Picture Slam launched last year on BBC One.
Alan Carr is an in-demand comedian and presenter[/caption]
BBC game show Picture Slam launched last year[/caption]
The show is imminently returning for a second series[/caption]
The show will be back for an extended second series from Saturday, September 28.
Three teams of two are presented with a board full of images they need to correctly identify against the clock.
If they successfully clear a full board with correct answers for a ‘Picture Slam’, they’ll receive a cash bonus.
However, only the last team standing takes home any of their banked cash.
Should they find all required pictures, they leave with the jackpot.
It comes amid reports that ITV bosses are looking to poach Alan and co-star Amanda Holden.
They believe the pals can replicate the success of Beeb series Amanda & Alan’s Italian Job, which recently filmed its third series in Spain.
Viewers have seen the popular duo help renovate properties around the Med.
A TV insider said: “You’re talking about a potential 21st-century version of Wish You Were Here…?.
“Which is ironic because Alan has joked that Amanda — who’s often pictured holidaying in a luxurious foreign resort — is a modern-day Judith Chalmers.
“But in recent years many of her journeys abroad have been with Alan by her side, and their friendship has grown deeper while making the three series of the Mediterranean travel shows.
“The duo are even on holiday together now in Greece and the most recent video of them messing around in the Med has been watched eight million times.
“That just goes to show their pairing is a winning combination — she brings the glamour, he brings the giggles.”
Meanwhile, bosses gave the pair a vote of confidence by hiring them to host the Royal Variety Performance in November.
ITV declined to comment.
Alan Carr’s career to date
Alan Carr is a household name, but how did the comedian get his start?
- Alan began pursuing a career in stand-up comedy in the early 2000s, moving up to Manchester from Northampton and regularly performing at the city’s Comedy Store. He was even named City Life’s Newcomer Of The Year in 2001.
- He then became a regular fixture on the small screen following stints on Jimmy Carr‘s beloved panel show 8 Out of 10 Cats and the documentary series The Law of the Playground between 2005 to 2006.
- Alan went on to find further fame as the co-host of Channel 4’s The Friday Night Project, which ran from 2006-2009 alongside shamed comic Justin Lee Collins, before going solo and fronting Alan Carr’s Celebrity Ding Dong in 2008.
- But it wasn’t until he landed his talk show The Chatty Man in 2009 that he officially became a household name. The Channel 4 show was for 16 series and welcomed guests like Denise Van Outen, Amanda Holden, Kim Catrall, Kylie Minogue, and Justin Timberlake. It in 2016 before returning for a Christmas special in 2017.
- Since then, Alan has fronted coverage of some of the UK’s biggest events, such as Crufts in 2018 and the Royal Variety Show in 2021, as well as appearing on an episode of The Great Celebrity Bake Off and becoming a regular judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race.
- He also reunited with fellow comedian Jimmy Carr for 8 Out 10 Cats Does Countdown as a regular team captain.
- Alan now fronts a number of beloved series, including The Italian Job – a renovation show he hosts with Amanda Holden – and Interior Design Masters – a reality competition show that pits amateur designers against each other.
- In 2023, Alan wrote and starred in the autobiographical drama Changing Ends which depicts his young life growing up in Northampton in the 1980s. The series was an instant hit and returned to ITV for a second series in 2024.
Series one of Amanda & Alan’s Italian Job, which was filmed in Sicily, aired in 2023.
The sequel, made in Tuscany, was released earlier this year.
Amanda & Alan’s Spanish Job, set in Andalucia, is expected to go out later this year or early in 2025.
Picture Slam will return from Saturday, September 28.
The star’s work for the Beeb includes Amanda & Alan’s Italian Job[/caption]
