ITV are hoping they've got another ratings winners on their hands with The Games which launches on Monday night.
Holly Willoughby, Freddie Flintoff, Alex Scott and Chris Kamara are at the helm as the sporting show takes over ITV 's primetime schedule over consecutive nights this week, following the likes of The Thief, His Wife and The Canoe and DI Ray into the 9pm slot.
You can't have watched ITV over recent weeks and escaped the teaser adverts for the series with The Games contestants including Max George, Christine McGuinness, Ryan Thomas and Phoenix Gulzar-Brown. Other stars taking part include ITV newsreader L ucrezia Millarini and Coronation Street actor Colson Smith.
READ MORE: Meet The Games contestants ready to do battle as ITV show launches
The line-up of six male and six female competitors will battle it out in the athletics arena, the swimming pool, gymnasium and velodrome. Each will put their sporting prowess to the test in events from the 100 metre sprint to diving, racking up points on the medals table. As well as live coverage of the events, each episode will feature the celebrities' preparation as they’re taught the sports from scratch by some of the UK’s top coaches.
To many people, The Games will be a completely new concept but, for others the show's title and format sent cogs turning in their memories.
Has The Games been on before?
The reason for some viewers getting deja-vu is that The Games HAS been on before. It started life on Channel 4 back in 2003 and running until 2006. Hosts back then included Jamie Theakston and Jayne Middlemiss, while a whole host of celebrities took part, with things getting VERY competitive at times.
Series 1 was won jointly by Terri Dwyer and Azra Akin in the female contest, with MC Harvey winning the men's event, ahead of James Hewitt. The first series also featured the VERY memorable moment when Bobby Davro belly flopped into the swimming pool from a diving platform.
Series 2 brought some strong rivalry between Lady Isabella Hervey and Katy Hill in the women's competition, with the socialite edging out the ex Blue Peter presenter to clinch gold.
There were joint winners in the men's event in 2004, with Shane Lynch and Jarrod Batchelor sharing the spoils. A year later, Kirsty Gallacher won, standing on the winners rostrum with Brookside actor Phillip Olivier. And in the fourth and final series on Channel 4 in 2006, former Popstars hopeful turned Eurovision act Javine Hylton won Gold for the women with Damage's Jade Jones taking Gold for the men.
The final series was followed by a Champion of Champions spin-off, won by Team 2006, consisting of Javine, Jade Julia Goldsworthy MP, Jade Jones and MC Plat'num,
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