Michael Sheen has admitted he is already considering quitting as host of BBC's House of Games, revealing he has only signed up for one series of the teatime quiz show.
The Welsh actor, who is also starring in Celebrity Traitors this autumn, told Radio Times that he would "love to stay as long as he can", but that things could change in 12 months' time. Sheen took over from founder Richard Osman, 55, who stepped down in April after nine years at the helm.
Sheen on taking over from Richard Osman
Speaking about replacing Osman, the dad of three said: "Richard did an amazing job. He made it look so effortless. I used to joke and say I'll make it my own by making it look really full of effort."
Sheen reassured fans that his recent stint on The Celebrity Traitors and his presenting duties will not stop him from acting. He explained: "Doing whatever, being on The Traitors or presenting House of Games is not going to take away from me being able to play King Lear. They are completely different things, and they draw on different parts of you."
Osman's departure after nine years
Richard Osman founded House of Games shortly after leaving another BBC quiz show, Pointless. On his Rest is Entertainment podcast, he said: "I just wanted to go on record saying how much I love it and loved it."
In a public statement, Osman added: "It has been such a great pleasure, and honour, to present House of Games for the last nine years, with the absolute best team in television. But it's time to let someone else have a go, and I'm very excited to hand over the House keys to the lucky new host!"
Sheen's decision to give back OBE
The news comes after Sheen revealed he gave back his OBE title, which he received in 2009, because he didn't want to feel like a "hypocrite". In 2020, the Welsh star said he decided to decline the New Year's Honour for his services to drama after learning more about Wales' history and its relationship with Britain.
Sheen explained that he came across research while preparing to give the 2017 Raymond Williams Lecture, named after the Welsh writer. He confessed he had never spoken about his decision to hand it back because he didn't want to "publicise" it, but he would always be "transparent" if anyone ever asked.
He said: "Raymond Williams famously wrote a piece called Who Speaks for Wales? in 1971, and I took that as the starting point for my Raymond Williams Lecture to do 'Who speaks for Wales now?' In my research to do that lecture, I learnt a lot about Welsh history. By the time I'd written that lecture, and I think I'd been given the OBE a year before, or maybe two years before. But I remember sitting there going, 'I have a choice: I either don't give this lecture and hold onto my OBE, or I give this lecture and I have to give my OBE back.'"
