Gary Lineker to host new ITV game show The Box

Gary Lineker is to host a brand new TV recreation present known as The Field, ITV has confirmed.The brand new present will see the previous Match of the Day presenter oversee 10 yellow containers, every housing superstar contestants who can be transported to unknown places, the place they’ll participate in several video games.It is going to be his first presenting job since leaving Match of the Day in Could amid an antisemitism row.Lineker, who beforehand hosted one other ITV recreation present, Sitting on a Fortune – for 13 episodes throughout two seasons from 2021 to 2023 – mentioned in an announcement: “I am unable to wait to host The Field.” He continued: “I’ve at all times felt proper at house within the field on a soccer pitch, and while it is a totally different proposition, the basics are comparable. “The contestants must shortly and masterfully work out how every recreation works, while additionally attempting to get forward of the competitors to take management.”It is going to be unpredictable and thrilling to look at, and I am excited that I get to have a entrance row seat to all of the motion!”The collection, primarily based on a present that aired just lately in Norway, can be filmed within the UK later this yr earlier than being broadcast on ITV in 2026.Every week, two gamers will face off in a dramatic finale often called “the duel”.ITV leisure boss Katie Rawcliffe mentioned Lineker was “the right match for The Field”, which she promised would supply “an entertaining, exhilarating and immersive new format.”In Could, Lineker held again tears as he signed off from his remaining version of Match of the Day after 26 years within the scorching seat and formally left the BBC.He had been on account of stay with the BBC for the upcoming season to entrance its protection of the lads’s FA Cup and later the World Cup, however he left sooner than deliberate after apologising for sharing an antisemitic social media submit.The ex-Barcelona and England footballer can be co-founder of Goalhanger Podcasts, makers of the favored The Relaxation Is Historical past collection and its spin-offs about politics, leisure, cash and soccer – for which he’s a co-host. Goalhanger just lately struck a cope with Spanish soccer’s high division, often called La Liga, to point out clips from its matches plus weekly highlights and evaluation from Lineker and fellow presenter Alex Aljoe.