Welsh comedian and actor lands job on much-anticipated BBC1 competition format
Rob Brydon is to host the upcoming UK version of adventure competition format Destination X for BBC1.
Destination X is a co-commission by the BBC and NBC, and Broadcast revealed last year that both UK and US versions are set to be produced by I Kissed a Girl indie Twofour following a competitive tender process. The lucrative contract is understood to be worth around £20m.
News of Brydon’s latest role comes as the Welsh comedian and actor has just wrapped filming for the final episode of Gavin and Stacey for the same channel.
He said: “How could I turn down the opportunity to become the mastermind of Destination X, the thrilling new travel adventure series coming to the BBC next year?
“It’s a show that turns the whole of Europe into a board game - manipulating the players and the audience at home along the way. I can’t wait to be the puppet master orchestrating every twist and turn as our contestants are taken on a journey where everything is not as it seems.”
Twofour’s managing director Dan Adamson said: “Playful, smart and mischievous, we know Rob will strike the perfect tone and be the very best guide for our cast and audience alike, as they embark on a journey like no other.”
BBC head of factual entertainment and events Catherine Catton said: “Rob is the perfect host to guide our cast and audience over the course of this extraordinary road trip where nothing is quite what it seems, and we are delighted to be working with him on this amazing series.”
Last month, it emerged that The Walking Dead star Jeffrey Dean Morgan is to host NBC’s version of the adventure reality competition series, which he will also executive produce. The NBC version is set to be co-produced by Universal Television Alternative Studio, a division of Universal Studio Group.
Based on the hit Belgian format Bestemming X by Geronimo – which does not have a host - the show will follow a group of contestants on a bus trip, in unknown places, travelling with blacked-out windows. As they are fed genuine and misleading clues they must guess their location and whoever places their X on a map furthest away from their actual location at the end of each episode will be eliminated.
Brydon’s other hosting responsibilities for the BBC include BBC1 comedy panel show Would I Lie To You?, which he has helmed since 2009. He has previously hosted three series of his own BBC2 chat show, The Rob Brydon Show, from 2010-2012, and presented Saturday-night game show The Guess List for BBC1 in 2014.
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