The Joker’s Wild

Season 1 1Magic (*103) 19:00 Gameshow

Rapper Snoop Dogg is no stranger to reality TV, having invited cameras into his LA family home for fly-on-the-wall show Snoop Dogg’s Fatherhood (20072009). But hosting a gameshow is a little more daunting for the 46-yearold, especially because of its sentimental value. “My grandmama and I used to watch the original Joker’s Wild [19711975] and I dreamt of presenting it one day,” says Snoop. So it was an easy “yes” when TBS network bosses asked him to take control of the new reboot.

1 Snoop’s real name is a mouthful – Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr – and his mother Beverly inspired his stage name too. He jokes that “I used to love Peanuts and Charlie Brown – Snoopy was my favourite cartoon character and I watched so much of that show that I started to look like him”. His 66-yearold mom and stepdad Calvin Sr still call him “Calvin” at home.

2 Although he was an originator of gangsta rap in the ’90s, Snoop’s music origins are a lot “purer”. He was a choir member from the age of five and didn’t miss a Sunday church service for fear of a beating from his granny.

3 He makes no excuses for his love of marijuana and claims that he’s been smoking for almost 40 years, having first tried the recreational drug at his uncle’s house when he was eight.

4 Sports-mad Snoop is a certified mini football coach and sponsored his 21-year-old son Cordell’s mini team. Cordell got a scholarship to the University Of Los Angeles thanks to his talents.

5 And while Snoop is “the man”, he reports to “the boss lady”, aka his wife Shante. They split up in 2004 but renewed their vows in 2008 in front of their kids Cordell, other son Cordé (24) and 18-year-old daughter Cori.