Deal Or No Deal to return with popular ITV star to replace Noel Edmonds as host
DEAL Or No Deal is being lined up for a return on ITV – eight years after it was axed.
The original series, fronted by Noel Edmonds, ran on Channel 4 for 11 years until 2016.
Insiders have revealed ITV are now working to reboot the popular show which saw contestants choosing one of 22 boxes and gambling against the banker in a bid to walk away with the highest sum.
Popular ITV star Stephen Mulhern has been approached as the favourite to front the show.
A source said: “Deal Or No Deal was absolutely huge back in the day and pulled in millions of viewers.
“ITV think there is still a huge appetite for it and think they could make a huge success of the show if they brought it back.
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“Plans for the reboot are in the very early stages and the details of when it could come back are being closely guarded.
“There have been discussions around Noel possibly returning but ITV decided they want to give the show a completely fresh look and feel.
“Stephen has been approached about being the new host of the show which is something he is over-the-moon about.
“He has really proven himself to ITV and after he got his own show In For A Penny, as well as Catchphrase, bosses think Stephen could be ideal for it. ”
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Deal Or No Deal ended in August 2016 following 13 series – and even had a farewell tour around the country so fans could watch it for one last time.
Talking about the tour at the time, Noel said: “We can go anywhere and this is something I’ve wanted to do for years. Twenty-two boxes, a phone and me. Where will we pop up next?”
The tour ended after one year and after 3,000 episodes the show finished for good.
The year before it finished, it was worked out Deal Or No Deal had given away over £40million in prize money.
Viewers spent years trying to work out the identity of the mystery banker and it was later telly star Stephen who revealed it as Coronation Street actor Glenn Hugill.
The show is one of the UK’s most popular ever game shows and even got a celebrity spin off which ran across five series.
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The biggest prize winner was Louis Walsh, who won £70,000 which he donated to the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Childrenin 2012.
Noel himself played the final celebrity episode in September 2015 and won £26,000 for Children’s Hospice South West.
