Holly Willoughby is back on our screens in ITV’s reboot of gameshow You Bet! alongside Stephen Mulhern, with the presenter opening up about life at home with her three kids

Gladiators, Deal Or No Deal and Big Brother have all been revived over the past year, so it was only a matter of time before ITV’s You Bet! returned to our screens. The classic game show, which originally aired in the 80s and 90s, challenges ordinary people to take on extraordinary tasks for the chance to win a huge prize pot. However, for new presenters Holly Willoughby and Stephen Mulhern, You Bet! means more to them than just another reboot.

“I remember watching You Bet! as a kid, and I loved it,” Holly, 43, says. “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.” Stephen, 47, adds, “Every time I’ve 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’ve never seen the show before to enjoy it and the older audience to reminisce and also see the show being brought up to date.”

Stephen Merchant and Holly Willoughby are hosting ITV’s reboot of You Bet!. (Image: ITV)

Holly left This Morning and her on-screen partnership with Phillip Schofield last year, and has seamlessly established herself and old pal Stephen as ITV’s new presenting duo with Dancing On Ice and now You Bet! under their belts. “It’s lovely working with Stephen,” says Holly, who first worked with him on Holly And Stephen’s Saturday Showdown back in 2004. “We started working together when I was in my twenties 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.”

Stephen was relieved to have Holly to hold onto when one of the more dangerous challenges nearly ended in disaster. “They are really nail-biting and we were literally hanging onto each other,” he says. “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, we could hardly watch. I’m so glad we had each other for support,” he adds. “Holly and I love working together.”

Stephen teases that viewers can expect ‘nail-biting’ challenges in the new series(Image: ITV)

Holly hopes families will fall in love with the show – just as she did with her father while watching original hosts Sir Bruce Forsyth, Matthew Kelly and Darren Day. “They’ll be watching something they can really feel a part of and play along with at home,” she says. However, the mum-of-three doesn’t fancy her chances as a competitor – unless she’s challenged to prepare for the school run.

“The moment I’m put under pressure it all goes out the window,” says Holly, who is mum to Harry, 15, Belle, 13, and Chester, 10, with husband Dan Baldwin. “It’s quite a skill getting three kids dressed, ready, fed and out the door in the morning. So maybe that would be my skill, getting a household of kids to school on time!”

Holly is mum to Harry, 15, Belle, 13, and Chester, 10, with husband Dan Baldwin(Image: Instagram)

With the pair welcoming a new celebrity panel each episode, You Bet! sees members of the public claim they can complete remarkable and sometimes ridiculous feats as the studio audience bet on whether they can do it. The audience’s favourite challenger of the night takes home £10,000, while the losing celebrity panellist must face the dreaded forfeit finale. Stephen teases that fans can expect challenges both old and new – from the show’s infamous digger being used to set off fireworks to a couple identifying cacti with their tongues.

“There are all kinds of things going on!” he says. “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! 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 head in just 20 seconds and someone bench-pressing a washing machine while riding a unicycle.”

One episode sees Martin and Trixie Haymes claim that they can identify cacti with their tongues(Image: ITV)

Viewers can expect the likes of comedian Rob Beckett, presenter Alison Hammond, singer Olly Murs and footballer Mary Earps to stop by the celebrity panel – with one of them forced to flex their vocal muscles in the forfeit finale of each episode. “In each episode, the loser has to perform with the cast of a West End musical totally unrehearsed,” Stephen says. “The results are spectacular in all sorts of ways!” Holly adds, “It is not to be missed. It’s hilarious and sometimes hard to watch, but just brilliant.”