Gary Lineker Expected To Host New Saturday Night Gameshow On Itv

Gary Lineker is to big a caller gameshow connected ITV, nether a woody that will bring him backmost to screens aft his departure from nan BBC, according to reports.

The erstwhile Match of nan Day presenter and erstwhile England shot captain, who was nan highest-paid on-air prima astatine nan BBC, parted ways pinch nan broadcaster successful May, days aft apologising for amplifying online worldly pinch antisemitic connotations.

Filming has yet to statesman connected nan caller show, which is called The Box and involves different celebrities being put into boxes and fixed challenges, according to the Sun.

The show would beryllium expected to beryllium fixed a salient Saturday nighttime slot and play a akin flagship domiciled to ITV’s celebrated Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway.

A spokesperson for ITV declined to remark connected nan study erstwhile approached by nan Guardian.

A root told nan Sun: “The Box is monolithic successful Norway, and nan authorities were quickly sold to Denmark and now nan UK. ITV are really excited astir it and judge they person yet recovered a worthy successor to Saturday Night Takeaway.

“They person agelong been sniffing astir Gary and conscionable needed to find nan correct format for him. They’re assured they’ve recovered that now, and nan BBC’s nonaccomplishment is their gain.”

Excitement astir The Box has been building astir Europe arsenic networks hunt for a successor to shows specified arsenic Traitors and Destination X. Over nan people of 10 episodes, 12 personage contestants are placed successful abstracted boxes. When nan container successful which they person been placed opens, they find themselves successful nan midst of a challenge.

Lineker bade farewell astatine nan extremity of May to Match of nan Day and his 30-year narration pinch nan BBC amid unit complete his comments connected societal media.

A determination had been made past autumn that Lineker would statesman to measurement distant from his BBC responsibilities, pinch expectations that he would coming nan 2026 World Cup

However, his reposting of contented relating to nan Gaza conflict that contained an antisemitic awesome put an extremity to those plans for an extended farewell.

The 64-year-old apologised aft it emerged he had reposted a pro-Palestine video connected Instagram that criticised Zionism and included an illustration of a rat.

There had agelong been disapproval of Lineker, peculiarly from rightwing figures, complete his societal media output. He has 1.2 cardinal followers connected Instagram.

In March 2023, he was temporarily suspended complete comments he made criticising nan Conservative government’s asylum policy.

In February, he was among 500 high-profile taste figures who called connected nan BBC to rebroadcast a documentary, Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, calling it an “essential portion of journalism”.

The BBC removed nan documentary from its iPlayer aft it emerged that nan film’s 14-year-old narrator was nan boy of a lawman agriculture curate successful Gaza’s Hamas-run government.

Lineker said successful July that BBC should “hold its caput successful shame” complete its nonaccomplishment to show a documentary astir nan plight of medics successful Gaza.

In his first disapproval of his erstwhile employer since leaving nan BBC, he said group astatine “the very apical of nan BBC” had been failing complete nan conflict, aft nan corporation’s determination to drop Gaza: Doctors Under Attack.