Richard Osman has announced a major career shift, leaving the BBC after 17 years to host a brand-new ITV quiz show. The 55-year-old television presenter recently concluded his final episodes of House of Games on BBC Two, ending a nine-year tenure. Hollywood actor Michael Sheen will take over later this year. Osman's departure also marks the end of a 17-year run presenting BBC quiz programmes, including his previous work alongside Alexander Armstrong on Pointless.
New ITV Show: The Golden Elevators
Speaking on his podcast, The Rest is Entertainment, Osman revealed he will host a new quiz titled The Golden Elevators, set to film this autumn. He expressed enthusiasm: "Can I make an ITV announcement? Obviously I've left House of Games and Pointless and all of that, and I wanted to do a bit of TV. People have pitched me various quizzes, and Studio Lambert came to me with a show called Golden Elevators, which is an ITV quiz that I am going to be filming this autumn."
Osman noted that he was drawn to the format because it meets his criteria: "I always think, if someone pitches me a quiz, 'Do I like it as a quiz? Are viewers going to enjoy it? Is there something I could do to make this better?' Golden Elevators is the first one where I thought both of those things. It's super simple but takes a lot of skill to win, and I can present it in a really interesting, slightly unusual way."
Format and Prize
The show features 10 contestants starting in a skyscraper lobby, battling to reach the penthouse for a jackpot of £100,000. Each round begins with a trivia question offering two possible answers linked to a lift. While it seems a simple choice, group dynamics turn the quiz into a psychological battlefield. Once a decision is made, one lift ascends to the next floor while the other plummets, eliminating everyone inside.
Osman's podcast co-host Marina Hyde joked about his ambition to give away "a large amount of money on television with a sense of occasion." Osman confirmed the high stakes: "I get to do that stuff, which I've done in runthroughs a million times in other people's shows, where you go, 'Okay, you have said Anne of Cleves, Marina, if Anne of Cleves is correct, you are walking away with £100,000, if it's wrong, you're walking away with nothing.' That's the thing I wanted to do, and this show gives me an opportunity to do that."
Production rehearsals have already taken place. Talpa Studios, the production company, describes the format as combining quiz and strategy elements with a gripping psychological layer and a strong visual identity. Jasper Hoogendoorn from Talpa commented: "This outstanding new format combines quiz and strategy elements with a gripping psychological layer and a strong, simple visual identity."
Osman concluded: "It's a really, really fun show, and you know, everything fails etcetera, but I'm looking forward to doing it."
