Richard Osman has shared a major change for the upcoming series of House of Games, in which the bestselling author will pass the red chair over to Michael Sheen.
Osman announced earlier this month that he will be stepping down from the BBC show to focus on writing, after which the Good Omens actor was announced as his replacement.
He has now shed some light on how exactly the changeover will work, given that Osman is quite literally all over the show.
Speaking on his podcast The Rest is Entertainment, Osman confirmed the show will be renamed Michael Sheen’s House of Games, after joking he had ‘lobbied’ to keep his own handle in the title.
The prizes handed out to each victor will also be treated to a rebrand, with Sheen’s face now adorning them.
Fans had envisioned a stock room full of prizes going to waste, but Osman assured, ‘We tend not to over-order with the prizes… There are very few left.
‘One of the things they’re currently doing is producing prizes with his face on. So it will be called Michael Sheen’s House of Games.’
They haven’t started filming Osman’s final episodes and Sheen’s first ones yet, but the 55-year-old is set to go to Salford, where the show is filmed, for one final week of taping.
He explained to co-host Marina Hyde that they will film a handover episode, but that Sheen will not be a contestant on Osman’s iteration, which will air this autumn.
Osman said: ‘We all want everyone to know how delighted we are Michael’s doing it. So there’s a continuation.’
‘I want to welcome him as well. He’s got the best team in telly there and he’ll have an absolute ball.’
As for whether he would go on Michael Sheen’s House of Games, it was an unequivocal yes, albeit not in the immediate future.
‘I think that’s too meta and you have to let someone get their feet under the table,’ said Osman. ‘But one day I’d love to. In a few years. Christmas week or something like that.’
He concluded: ‘I wish him such luck. I messaged him the other day and said this is such a fun show to do and such a lovely gang. It’s a great show for him and he’s a great host for it.’
Michael Sheen’s House of Games will air on the BBC this autumn.
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