New game show is a recipe for success
BBC1, 9pm
NO not a glimpse of the fiery TV chef’s latest statements but rather a new prime-time game show with big cash prizes.
It’s Ramsay’s first time fronting such a show – he’s usually to be found yelling in kitchens and punching disappointing salmon dishes – so this will be a new experience both for him and us. However his affinity with high-pressure environments will certainly be useful here, as we’re promised a high-risk high-reward format where contestants can build up a fortune – or watch it come crashing down in an instant.
Will the famously sweary chef keep his trademark bad language in check, though? He does say in trailers for the show “I promise not to shout, I promise not to swear, I promise not to be mean, but I won’t promise to make it easy.” Fair enough – but then he does break each one of those promises in the 30-second promo, including telling a contestant
“By the time you’ve picked the category I’m gonna be older than Mary Berry,” and there’s evidence that whoever is in charge of the bleep-machine will have a busy evening. Perhaps it’s for the best that the show airs after the 9pm watershed.
A little bit of a mean streak isn’t so bad, though – after all, if we wanted a friendly host we’d watch Bradley Walsh on The Chase. Besides, surely nothing in Gordon’s arsenal of putdowns can possibly be as demoralising as one of University Challenge host Jeremy Paxman’s withering scowls. When Gordon really blows his top it tends to be more comedic anyway – such as the time he held slices of bread either side of a Hell’s Kitchen contestant’s face and had them describe themselves as an “idiot sandwich”. Honestly the most intimidating aspect of that tirade was the carbs it contained.
We should be finding Ramsay in more of his slightly testy but ultimately helpful mode, such as in the American version of Masterchef Junior which he hosts in a more PG-13 style, as opposed to his over-the-top supervillain manner that earned The F Word its Bafta and Kitchen Nightmares its reputation as a firm “guilty pleasure” favourite.
Ramsay is full of optimism for his first foray into the world of game show presenting, saying “This is going to be truly epic.
It is such an intense game with so much jeopardy to win big and lose even bigger, where the difference between failure and success is always in the balance. I’m so happy to be working with the fantastic team at the BBC and cannot wait to get in the studio and start stacking those gold bars!”
Kate Phillips, the BBC’S Controller of Entertainment Commissioning, says: “Bank Balance is a great format where contestants need to balance nerve with knowledge. And Gordon will be a formidable and unforgettable host.”