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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Entertainment
Dominique Hines

Stephen Fry to host UK version of cult American game show Jeopardy!

Stephen Fry will be fronting the UK version of famed American game show Jeopardy!

ITV is bringing back the show to UK screens, but this time with a “modern twist”.

The broadcaster announced on Monday that the show would receive a UK refashion, including an extra round.

Jeopardy! first aired in the UK on Channel 4 in the late 1980s, before moving to ITV and Sky in the 1990s.

This new version will “bring a modern twist to the cult classic”, Deadline reported as Fry added:  “In the United States, Jeopardy! is a phenomenon like no other.

Alex Trebek hosted Jeopardy! for 35 years until his death from pancreatic cancer in 2020 (Getty Images)

“Whenever I’m in America, I do my damnedest to catch it every weekday. The idea of hosting it here in the UK makes me dizzy with delight.

“Such a dedicated quizzing nation as ours will, I hope, welcome this uniquely beguiling and endlessly rewarding game.”

ITV Head of Entertainment Katie Rawcliffe added: “There is no one better to host this classic game show than Stephen, bringing knowledge and entertainment to all of our viewers.”

The network has revived a string of classic programmes lately, including Big Brother and Deal or No Deal.

Fry famously fronted BBC game show QI from 2003 to 2015 (BBC)

Jeopardy! first aired on US channel NBC in March 1964. It’s gone on to become one of the country’s most loved and successful daytime shows.

Its beloved host Alex Trebek fronted the general knowledge quiz show for 35 years from its revival in 1984 until his death from pancreatic cancer in 2020.

The quiz show reverses the traditional question-and-answer format and sees contestants given general knowledge clues in the form of answers.

They must identify the person, place, thing, or idea that the clue describes, phrasing each response in the form of a question.

Fry hosted BBC show QI from 2003 to 2015, before Sandi Toksvig took over.

The UK Jeopardy! will hit ITV1 & ITVX in the Autumn

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