Olly Murs returns to screens this evening as the presenter of Starstruck, ITV ’s new singing competition offering a cross between The X Factor and Stars In Their Eyes.
The show, which looks to blur the line between celebrity stage presence and finding new talent, marks the Dance with Me Tonight hitmaker’s return to hosting duties after his stint on The X Factor.
After first finding fame on the sixth series of The X Factor, the 37-year-old moved from centre stage to the wings to co-present the twelfth series alongside the late Caroline Flack in 2015.
The pair took over from longtime host Dermot O’Leary, who then stepped into the role once again the following year, after which Olly went on to judge The Voice UK.
Starstruck sees Essex-born Olly return to the microphoned helm, with a judging panel of recording artist Beverley Knight, comedian Jason Manford, actress Sheridan Smith and Queen singer Adam Lambert.
The four judges will be looking to identify the best voices as they progress through the rounds of this new talent competition.
The show sees groups of super-fans transform into their idols to perform one of their hits on stage in front of the judges - with the winner of the show a prize jackpot of £50,000.
Olly has opened up about hosting the new show, which saw one trio of competitors transform into him for a performance to the judges.
He told the Express: “It was pretty surreal and I actually said to the judges if that was how I sing and dance I might retire now.
“Genuinely it was really humbling, I was very emotional actually and I was really taken aback that these three guys had gone away to study me, study how I sing and how I perform.
“It was slightly weird and it did throw me a little bit because I have these amazing judges in front of me and I’m trying to be cool and host the show and suddenly I’m judging myself.
“Then hearing the comments, oh my god. Adam was like, 'Close your ears, Olly’. It was all good fun though.”
Olly added that he did not want to come across as “too polished” as a presenter on Starstruck.
He explained: “I wanted to be me and my version of a presenter, I am a little bit cheeky and a little bit rough around the edges and I think that’s sort of me and I don’t want to be too polished and too clean as that’s not who I am.
“I didn’t really go into it with any advice, I just went into it confident that I had an amazing judging panel to work with and I loved the show and the format.”
Starstruck is set to land on screens from Saturday, February 12 at 8:30pm and will be available to catch up on ITV Hub.
It is due to run for six weeks, taking us up to mid-March.
