ITV launched its new celebrity game show, The Box, on Saturday evening, with Gary Lineker hosting. The programme sees a group of celebrity contestants placed inside yellow boxes before being transported to mystery locations, where they must tackle surprise physical, mental and logical challenges with very little instruction.
The famous faces are carried in their boxes to unknown spots and left to work out what to do on the spot. At the end of every episode, the two lowest performers face off in The Duel, with the loser eliminated and the winner staying in the competition.
Celebrity lineup and fan reaction
The lineup includes Joey Essex, John Bercow, Jenny Ryan, JB Gill, Danny Aarons, Ranvir Singh, Sara Davies, Graeme Souness, Ellie Taylor and Shakira Khan.
However, just minutes into the debut episode, viewers at home were less than impressed. Some admitted to "switching off" as others shared that they weren't enjoying it.
Posting to Twitter/X, one said: "ITV have their favourite slo mo cameras out again. Time to turn over. #thebox," as another echoed: "#Thebox 20:22 and already switched off. Utter pish."
Someone else quizzed: "Who genuinely commissions this s***? #TheBox." "I’ve lost interest in it already. Looks very boring #thebox," one more said.
ITV and Lineker on the show
One viewer added: "ITV’s attempt to find Lineker something to do has failed miserably just like it did with Oti Mabuse. Same old celebrity faces that would turn up to the opening of an envelope if it paid well #thebox."
Speaking of the series, ITV said: "The Box is a thrilling new format that plunges 10 celebrity contestants into the unknown. With each celebrity enclosed in a yellow box, they’ll find themselves in mystery locations across the country.
"They will never know where they are, or what challenge is facing them on the other side. The challenges could be physical, mental, logical, funny, a bit daunting, or all of those at once.
"With minimal or no instruction, they must decipher and work out what to do. At the end of each episode, two players will battle it out in The Duel, a high-stakes head-to-head game to avoid elimination."
Speaking about his decision to join the show, Gary Lineker said: "It's different - it's something I've never done before, which appealed to me, alongside the unique nature of the concept. It's fun, it's family-friendly, and it's great prime time telly. What's not to like?!"
