Future of Lee Mack’s The 1% Club revealed by ITV after three series on air
THE future of Lee Mack’s hit quiz show has been revealed by ITV after becoming a runaway success.
The programme has become an unexpected success for ITV bringing in millions of viewers each week and cementing itself as a Saturday night staple.
ITV are now so confident with the format of the play-along-at-home style quiz that they have handed it a fourth and fifth series.
So far a total of three series of the breakout programme have aired with ITV now revealing that both a fourth and fifth series will air in 2025.
In a brand new scheduling update, the broadcaster has revealed that the first of 18 brand new episodes will begin airing at the turn of the New Year.
The Sun were the first to reveal back in March of this year that ITV were hoping to bring the quizzing format back with schedules now appearing to have been locked in.
The 1% Club also has another reason to celebrate this week with the show nominated for a top gong at this year’s National Television Awards.
Lee’s show is in the running for Quiz Game Show but will have to beat out stiff competition from the likes of Richard Osman‘s House of Games, Beat The Chasers and Ant & Dec’s Limitless Win.
Speaking about fronting the show once again, Lee said: “Let’s be honest, the fact that I haven’t accidentally given a hundred grand to the wrong person or read out the answer instead of the question is as much a surprise to me as it is to everyone else.
“I’m really delighted that ITV is risking me steering this ship once again.
“I can’t wait to discover more of the nation’s brainboxes.”
The fourth and fifth series will follow the usual format, which sees 100 contestants battle it out to win a top prize of £100,000 by answering logic-based questions.
An insider further told The Sun of the impending run: “The show has well and truly proved its popularity with viewers, and so it’s only natural to bring it back for not one, but two more rounds.
“This will also include two Christmas specials, which will air on ITV after the main series have run.”
The 1% Club — which has been sold overseas to countries including, France, Germany, Turkey and Spain — gives contestants a chance to take home the mega cash prize by correctly answering a question that only one per cent of people in the country would get right.
But unlike most quizzes, no swotting up on general knowledge is required to do well.
The key to success is logic and common sense.
Hardest Quiz Show Questions
Would you know the answers to some of quizzing TV's hardest questions
- Who Wants To Be A Millionaire – Earlier this year, fans were left outraged after what they described as the “worst” question in the show’s history. Host Jeremy Clarkson asked: “From the 2000 awards ceremony onwards, the Best Actress Oscar has never been won by a woman whose surname begins with which one of these letters?” The multiple choice answers were between G, K, M and W. In the end, and with the £32,000 safe, player Glen had to make a guess and went for G. It turned out to be correct as Nicole Kidman, Frances McDormand and Kate Winslet are among the stars who have won the Best Actress gong since 2000.
- The 1% Club – Viewers of Lee Mack’s popular ITV show were left dumbfounded by a question that also left the players perplexed. The query went as follows: “Edna’s birthday is on the 6th of April and Jen’s birthday falls on the 15th of October, therefore Amir’s birthday must be the ‘X’ of January.” It turns out the conundrum links the numbers with its position in the sentence, so 6th is the sixth word and 15th is the fifteenth word. Therefore, Amir’s birthday is January 24th, corresponding to the 24th word in the sentence.
- The Chase – The ITV daytime favourite left fans scratching their heads when it threw up one of the most bizarre questions to ever grace the programme. One of the questions asked the player: “Someone with a nightshade intolerance should avoid eating what?” The options were – sweetcorn, potatoes, carrots – with Steve selecting sweetcorn but the correct answer was potatoes.