You Bet!: Stephen Mulhern and Holly Willoughby on the return of 'true Saturday night telly' game show

“I remember watching You Bet! as a kid and loved it. For me, it felt like true Saturday night telly, I remember being glued to the TV while watching a digger pick up six delicate eggs in its giant jaws and placing them on egg cups, all in a minute. I remember looking at my dad who was equally as enthralled as I was. I think the show works for all ages and is real family viewing.”

So it’s no surprise that Willoughby, who has presented various television shows for ITV, most notably This Morning and Dancing On Ice, is glad You Bet! is back. She is hosting the reimagined gameshow with longtime friend and fellow television presenter, Stephen Mulhern, 47, who began his career at CITV presenting the children’s television shows Finger Tips and Tricky TV, and went on to present various television shows for ITV, including Britain’s Got More Talent.

From daredevil stunts to quirky tests of passions and pastimes, You Bet! is the ITV Saturday night spectacular that sees ordinary people take on extraordinary challenges. For each challenge, a star-studded celebrity panel, including English comedian and actor Rob Beckett, 38, television presenter and actress Alison Hammond, 49, former association football manager Harry Redknapp, 77, podcaster and television presenter Rosie Ramsey, 38, goalkeeper for the England women’s national football team Mary Earps, 31, stand-up comedian and presenter Judi Love, 44, and singer and television personality Olly Murs, 40, and the studio audience must bet if the challengers can do it – yes or no? And whoever is the audience’s favourite challenger of the night will win a massive £10,000, while the losing celebrity must take part in the dreaded forfeit finale.

“There are all kinds of things going on! There’s the return of the digger challenge, a real favourite from the original series, to quirkier challenges…like identifying a board game by hearing the contents being poured out into a box,” says Mulhern.

“We also have a new Quick Bets segment with fast-paced smaller challenges…like a woman folding five frying pans in half using her bare hands in just 20 seconds, and someone bench-pressing a washing machine whilst riding a unicycle. The great thing about You Bet! is that, unlike any other gameshow on TV, everybody watching can play along. Everybody can bet on the challenges, deciding whether our challengers can do it…or whether they can’t.

“Every time I’ve ever been asked if there was a show that I could ever bring back, I’ve always said You Bet!, so now is the chance for younger viewers who have never seen the show before to enjoy it, and the older audience to reminisce and also see the show being brought up to date.”

But what were some of the challenges that Mulhern and Willoughby loved the most? Did they have any memorable moments while filming?

“Some of the challenges I absolutely love. For example, in one challenge, a delivery bike driver takes on a delivery drone in a race. But who will win…human or machine? It’s You Bet! like you’ve never seen it before. So I hope all the viewers that remember the show will enjoy it just as much, and the younger audience if they love social media…then they’re going to love this show,” says Mulhern.

Willoughby adds: “The one that stands out to me the most was a lovely couple whose unique challenge was that they could identify different types of cactuses – whilst blindfolded – by licking them. Yep…only using their tongues, they had to identify many different types of cacti in order to pass the challenge. It’s a real treat.

“Viewers will be watching something they can really feel a part of and play along with at home. I also have to say the celebrity forfeit at the end of each show is not to be missed. It’s hilarious and sometimes hard to watch, but just brilliant.”

“In each episode, the loser has to perform with the cast of a major West End musical totally unrehearsed…and the results are truly spectacular…in all sorts of ways,” says Mulhern.

When the gameshow first aired, it was hosted by entertainer and television presenter Sir Bruce Forsyth, who died in 2017 aged 89, and later by British actor and television presenter Matthew Kelly, 74.

Willoughby says: “It’s lovely working with Stephen. We started working together when I was in my 20s and have known each other for a very long time. There were lots of fun moments when filming this show together, we couldn’t help but play along and compete with each other.

“Holly and I love working together and we had so much fun on the show. But some of the challenges are really nail-biting and we were literally hanging onto each other,” says Mulhern.

“In one challenge, the challenger is attempting to scale the outside of a multi-storey car park to get to the top faster than a professional driver can drive up it. The climber slipped, the driver was almost hitting the posts, and we could hardly watch – so I’m so glad we had each other for support.

The first of two You Bet! specials is on ITVX. The second is set to air on December 22.