Stephen Mulhern says he 'would be silly' to reject chance to host Dancing On Ice
Stephen Mulhern says he “would be silly” to turn down the chance to co-host Dancing On Ice with Holly Willoughby.
The pair have worked together in the past and although Holly is off-screen at the moment, Mulhern hopes the pair could be working together in January. They were a fresh-faced duo hosting Holly & Stephen's Saturday Showdown - previously known as Ministry of Mayhem - from 2004 to 2006 on ITV.
And Mulhern, 46, said: "I'm going to be brutally honest with you, I had the association with Defrosted when it was the spinoff show and when Phil was unwell I stood in, and I loved it. I absolutely loved it back with Holly. We had a great time. It's fun. And the response on social media was amazing.
"We are talking about Dancing On Ice. but I promise you now nothing has been agreed. I've not said yes, and I haven't said no. Would I do it? Do you know something, I think it'd be silly not to do it. But nothing has been fully agreed. It would be great to work with Holly again and if they said 'Is there any stipulation?' I would say 'Yeah they have got to be faster on the ice even on their first go'."
The prospect of Dancing On Ice is far from the only TV 'deal' that in-demand Mulhern has on the table. On screens later this month, he will bring his revamped version of Deal Or No Deal. Despite the pressure of bringing back an established brand which had Noel Edmonds at the helm, Mulhern said he didn’t think twice about accepting the job, in part because his dad would have never forgiven him.
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On screens later this month, he will bring his revamped version of Deal Or No Deal (Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
Mulhern hopes the pair could be working together in January (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)"When they asked me there were no doubts at all. I always used to watch it and besides, it's my dad's favourite show of all time," he explained. "So much so that at Christmas, we used to always play it! My dad would get loads of these little gift boxes the size of ring boxes with a lid on. And he would do his own version of Deal Or No Deal.
"One of the boxes would have a 50 pound note in. The others would have little chocolates and pre-scratch cards and that sort of stuff. So, it was quite bizarre when they were saying that they were bringing it back. He's always very anxious, my dad, in terms of he doesn't want to get in the way and that sort of stuff when I am working.
"But he was there. He was there for more shows than the contestants and he just loved it. It's a rollercoaster of emotions, I've never felt ups and downs like it." The show revolves around 15 cash boxes, with prizes from 1p to the £100,000 jackpot as well as cash offers made to contestants by a mystery figure on the phone called The Banker.
New host Mulhern has never met the new mysterious Banker he talks to but says he is similar to the previous one who mocked contestants and was booed by the audience. "I haven't met the banker yet and I don't want to meet him. We've all agreed now and I'm telling you now; he's ruthless. He couldn't care less.
"All he's worried about is making sure they get as less money as possible." Mulhern also hosts Catchphrase and In For A Penny on ITV. But as well as quizzes, magic shows and writing books, he is also willing to play the fool on Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway.
He is close friends with the Geordie duo and insists their recent decision to end Saturday Night Takeaway after the next 2024 series is a good one - insisting the show will be back bigger and better in the future. Mulhern said: “I've got to be honest, I'm gutted But they rested it before, and I was surprised then.
"They've said what they want to do is just take it away and just give it a complete refresh. Make it bigger and better. And I said, 'Well, what sort of time do you reckon it'll be that it's off-air?'. They said, 'It could be two years. Could be three.' What, also, I didn't realise is the amount of days in their schedule it takes to film the show. It takes over a hundred days of the year with all the extra windups and this, that, and the other.
"But I do think it'll come back. And I think they just want to get some new games and new ideas." Mulhern missed several Takeaway shows last year and worried fans with a spell in hospital. As he promotes Deal Or No Deal and prepares for more quiz filming he is back feeling 100 percent, but was touched by the amount of goodwill messages he got.
He said: "It wasn't the nicest time, I've got to be honest. I was very unwell and I had to go into hospital. And when I managed to get out, I said to the doctor 'Look, they want me to say something. What do you think I should say?'. And he said, 'Well, be honest with them. Say you've been in hospital, but now you're fighting fit and the show must go on'."
- Deal or No Deal starts on Monday 20th November at 4pm on ITV1, ITVX and STV.
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