Entertainment

Bake Off star Mel Giedroyc to host new BBC game show

The presenter will front a word-play quiz.
The presenter will front a word-play quiz.

Former The Great British Bake Off presenter Mel Giedroyc is set to deliver a new BBC game show, Letterbox.

The TV presenter often appears alongside comic partner Sue Perkins, but will be going it alone as the host of the forthcoming daytime series.

Created by David Young, who produces hit challenge shows The Weakest Link and Eggheads, it will see pairs of contestants go head-to-head to crack a series of passwords that could win them £2,000.

Mel Giedroyc
Mel Giedroyc presented The Great British Bake Off for the BBC (BBC)

Mel said: “I played a version of this game and was a) extremely competitive at it, b) annoyingly bad at it, c) strangely addicted to it, d) needed to do more of it, e) asked the big cheeses if I could present it, f) was delighted when they said yes, g) can’t wait to start recording the shows and meeting the contestants, h) hoping to get seriously skilled at playing it so that i) I’ll be able to SMASH IT if the board game comes out.

“Now how many letters have I used up? (see what I did there).”

Letterbox is being touted as a simple yet addictive word game that is designed for audiences to be able to play along at home.

Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins
Mel often appears as part of a duo with Sue Perkins (Ian West/PA)

David said: “It’s a word game designed to appeal to a family audience because it doesn’t contain any general knowledge questions.

“On Letterbox you don’t need to be an Egghead to walk away a winner.”

The series has been commissioned for 15 30-minute episodes for BBC Two.