We're all sick of Noel turning this show into a 45-minute advert for gambling, judging from the Pet Hates thread. But here's a thought - Noel may not be able to grasp the value of money, nor indeed might most other lavishly-paid TV presenters, but a former contestant most certainly would understand the situation better than anyone.

It begs the question - which contestant could you see hosting the show?

Marcus is an obvious choice; his 'chat show' segment in his game was inspired and his charisma was obvious. As someone who took an early-ish Deal on a strong board and found there was more in the game, he'll be able to emphasise with contestants in similar situations a million times better than M. N. NO DEEL SOD. I suspect people might find his voice annoying though.

Andy K would probably be too much like Noel, though he'd be dead entertaining as host - hyping up the player-Banker battle for all it was worth, no doubt producing inspired moments in the phone conversations... but again, he'd be too much like Noel.

Pat M would be rather entertaining and almost certainly get on with contestants well, but I'm not convinced she could quite... carry the show, whereas I suspect Marcus and Andy K could.

As, indeed, could Aaron. He'd do a slick and professional job for sure, and his statistical knowledge might allow him to help out contestants.

Bunney has to be considered too; I suspect he'd be a very good fit for the show if it were more like the French (pre-2006) and Italian versions with their heavy comedy/musical emphasis. Very much the stylistic opposite of Aaron, really - Aaron would be at his best if the show was focused upon the game, as in the original Dutch version.

Any others you can think of?

Here's some contenders:


Marcus, Lance, Pat M, Bunney, Jaye, Danny, Raj (2), Aaron, but my choice
would probably be Morris the poet.

I think "Mad Sarah" from March 2006 would be a great host... I can just picture it now:

Banker: "The offer's £13,200".

Sarah H: "The offer's £13,200... but I was expecting it to be at least £300k".

The numbers could also be replaced with what she thought looked like numbers... a windsock for 1, ducks for 22, doughnuts for 0, pretzels for 8...

Lance definitely. Especially given his reaction at £10k and £15k being revealed in his first round! Though maybe he'd be better as the second banker!

Also 50-show Lucy would be good too, especially as she now works for them!

Lucy's a good suggestion actually, I can seriously see her doing it. Lance too, can't believe I didn't mention him; his refusal to get involved even in a sweep (£45k Nick) perfectly illustrated a neutral approach, which is absolutely essential and exactly what is lacking right now.

For Morris, see also my comments on Bunney.

contestant replacing noel?

that would be Andy K then. Andy K IS noel.

Bunney

But if the contestant takes away the pound, the Banker is unable to calculate the offer!

June!! She'd be like "OK, what's your sixteenth box of this round going to be?" And "The offer is £7,000, what happens now?" It'd be an absolute mess!

psychic sarah, she could recommend what she thinks players should do in a subliminal way ha ha! The banker would have to win the lottery to keep up