Tom Daley in career boost as Olympic hero is set to host Traitors-style TV show – but with a quirky twist

Olympian Tom Daley is being teed up to host a fierce Traitors-style TV contest with competitors battling it out — at knitting.

The retired gold-winning diver — who has become Britain’s most famous knitter — is set to front the new show Game of Wool for Channel 4 next year.

Like The Traitors, it will see a group of contestants taken to a house in Scotland for eight weeks, where they will face a string of challenges with the chance of winning a big prize.

A TV insider said: “Staging such a ferocious-sounding contest for what seems like a genteel pastime may sound wild, but the world of elite knitting can be as competitive as cage fighting.

"Channel 4 realises that there is an irony to it all, particularly as the show’s title seems to reference the backstabbing fantasy thriller Game of Thrones.

“But giving it such a grand staging — and lining up a big name like Tom — is also a reflection of how much producers respect the craft and how seriously they take it.”

Wool and needles

Tom, who’s also set to join the line-up of BBC One’s Celebrity Traitors in 2025, has quickly become the pin-up for thousands of knitters across the nation.

He was often seen with his wool and needles among the poolside crowds at competitions and regularly shows off his creations online.

This summer, Tom announced he was retiring after winning silver with Noah Williams in the men’s synchronised 10m platform at the Paris Games.

With five medals under his belt, he is now Team GB’s most decorated diver in Olympic history and one of the country’s most recognisable sportsmen.

Now, he’s set to start carving out a new chapter in his career as a media personality.

He’s said to be considering multiple offers to be in various projects, many of them on TV.

Eddie: Neigh chance of me on horseback

In the upcoming thriller The Day of the Jackal, Eddie Redmayne is seen shooting, abseiling, racing cars, and tussling with henchmen, but he met his match when it came to horseriding.

At this week’s premiere of the Sky drama, the actor was seen performing all sorts of action skills as the assassin at the heart of the ten-parter.

But despite him spending weeks trying to master riding, when it came down to scenes where he had to be seen in the saddle, show bosses wouldn’t let him near an actual horse.

The actor, who attended the premiere with his wife Hannah Bagshawe, said: “I went to Budapest where our stunt coordinator has this amazing farm, and it was weeks of training.

"He was like a horse whisperer, and he would get a horse to bow down, and I would leap on the horse. I went out there for weeks training to try and up my horse game.

“I arrived on set on the day ready, I was stretched, bolstered, good to go, and this truck pulls round the corner with half a fake wooden horse attached to it, which is basically a bucking bronco.

“I’ve never asked this question, and perhaps I can ask that question in front of the producers tonight: was my riding just that bad that I wasn’t allowed on the real thing, or was I uninsurable?

“But I had to deal with not only all the preparation but the deep humiliation of riding on a bucking bronco being tugged along going: ‘Hah! hah!’

“My most entertaining moment in post-production was having a visual effects call with producers discussing whether the horse’s CGI mane was a bit too Pantene — a bit too glossy and well-conditioned.”

The first five episodes of Day of the Jackal will drop on Sky on November 7, with the remaining five available weekly.

Gervais: It's no to Euro

Ricky Gervais has dashed hopes that David Brent will represent the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest, despite pleas from fans.

The funnyman admits he “likes the idea” but says his character from hit sitcom The Office isn’t as “mad” as some of the genuine contestants.

He believes the only way Brent could appear was if he created a fake contest, but says it would be “too much work.”

Speaking on X, Ricky explained: “I’m not sure about him entering the real thing. I don’t think you could do it ironically because it’s all mad, camp, and kitsch.

“I don’t think David Brent would be madder than the average [contestant].”

The UK hasn’t won Eurovision since 1997 with Katrina and the Waves' song Love Shine a Light.

But Brent would have fared better than most of our entrants since — especially if he did his hilarious dance.

THE BBC has acquired a new crime drama series, The One That Got Away, from the writer of Lewis and DCI Banks. The “dark” thriller sees Elen Rhys’s DI Ffion Lloyd, and DS Rick Walters, played by Richard Harrington, try to solve the murder of a nurse in a Welsh coastal town. It will air next year on BBC iPlayer and BBC Wales.

Maggie in Abbey ending

Downton Abbey bosses are taking comfort in having given Maggie Smith a tremendous show send-off before she passed last month.

The veteran actress’s character, Lady Crawley, died at the end of 2022’s film, A New Era, and it meant the crew felt they had been able to say goodbye to her.

Executive producer Gareth Neame said: “It was news that we’d all dreaded at some point, you know that because of Dame Maggie’s advanced years. I think we all feel so honoured that we worked with her.

“I’m proud of the fact we managed to give a true ending to that character. She had a full stop in that second movie.

“I think we can, all of us, look back on Downton Abbey in the future and see that Violet had a journey and a proper ending with a sense of grief and loss.”

Martin's board meeting

Martin Lewis’s expertise in saving money has established him as Britain’s most trusted man.

Now, followers of his consumer tips will have a whole new arena in which to worship him.

The Good Morning Britain presenter will host a festive special for ITV called How to Win at Board Games, schooling viewers on the likes of Scrabble, Connect 4, and Monopoly.

He’ll spotlight the top tactics and game-winning tricks behind the most popular games, and in the process, try to take on the toughest of competitors while improving his own gameplay skills.

The one-off will air over the Christmas period to help his fans take on relatives and win.

JERRY SPRINGER’s chat show has produced some of TV’s most jaw-dropping moments. Now the most outrageous scenes will feature in Fights, Camera, Action, a two-part documentary for Netflix. Landing in January, it will feature first-hand testimony and revelations from show insiders.

Alex is cart in the act

Disney’s raunchy drama Rivals is this week’s must-watch TV — with that naked tennis scene taking top billing.

Character Rupert Campbell-Black performs a cartwheel starkers when he and Sarah Stratton (Emily Atack) are caught in the nude.

Now, star Alex Hassell has revealed the moment was all his own work.

He told This Morning: “It wasn’t in the script, no. It was a touch of improv.

“We did the naked tennis scene, and everyone’s quite nervous because there are all these rules about who can look at the monitor and what you can show of your body.

“And I thought, as a way of maybe breaking the ice, I would do a naked cartwheel.

“As I was halfway over, I thought, ‘I think I might be cancelled for this. I’ve broken loads of HR rules.’”