As host of The Weakest Link and A League of Their Own, Romesh Ranganathan is becoming the go-to guy for quiz shows. And, now the comic fronts a new primetime celebrity panel game for ITV1 and ITVX, Romesh Ranganathan’s Parents’ Evening. Here's everything we know about your new favorite quiz show...
Romesh Ranganathan's Parents' Evening release date
Romesh Ranganathan's Parents' Evening starts on Saturday 2 November at 9.10 pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
How does the game work?
Each week, three celebrities team up with their daughters, sons, mums or dads for the show that’s not about what you know, but what your parents think you know!
As a mix of list and picture questions plus buzzer rounds are presented to them by Romesh, for every question, each parent must ‘bid’ on how many answers their grown-up child will get right. The child of the highest-bidding parent plays that question.
If they meet their parent's expectations they will get the money — but fall short and the cash will be split between the other teams. Whichever parent-child pairing pockets the most cash earns the right to play the final round, for a chance to double their money for charity.
"It’s a quiz that tests your general knowledge and your knowledge about each other," says Romesh, whose production company Ranga Bee produces the show. "When we came up with Parents’ Evening, we almost wanted it to be a cross between a quiz show and a chat show; a good quiz but also a lot of fun in and around that. And we had a real laugh making it."
Which parent-child celebrity pairings appear in Episode 1?
Going head-to-head for the show's debut is This Morning favourite Alison Hammond and her son Aiden; Pride of Britain host Carole Vorderman and her son Cameron and Love Island's Iain Stirling and his mum Alison.
Appearing later in the series will be I'm a Celebrity star Tony Bellew and son Corey; Joel Dommett and mum Penny; Vicky Pattison and mum Caroll; Jonathan Ross and daughter Honey; Richard Madeley and daughter Chloe; and Spice Girl Mel B and daughter Phoenix.
"I was fascinated seeing how Chloe and Richard Madeley interacted with each other. She’s very media savvy and he’s very, ‘I just operate how I operate’," says Romesh. "Richard revealing he doesn’t wear underwear was probably the most shocking fact. When you know somebody's not wearing underpants, it makes you look at the way they’re sitting very differently…"
Will Romesh be joined by anyone from his own family?
Yes, indeed. Keeping the teams’ scores — and her son in check — is Ranganathan’s own mum, Shanthi. Viewers may remember Shanthi from when she appeared alongside her son on the BBC's travelogue Asian Provocateur, which saw the pair travel to Sri Lanka. They made quite the double act — but if Romesh was playing Parents’ Evening with his mum, how does he think they'd fare?
"Mum overestimates how much I know about stuff, so she would likely overbid," says Romesh. "When I did 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, mum phoned me after it aired and asked, ‘Why were you pretending to be stupid?’ It was almost more disappointing that I had to tell her I was trying my hardest!"
Wait, wasn't Romesh once a math's teacher?
Yes! Prior to becoming the stand-up comedian and top-tier presenter that we all know and love, Romesh taught maths at Hazelwick School in Crawley and The Beacon School in Banstead, Surrey. So you could say he's experienced all sides of parents’ evening — as a teacher, a father of three boys he shares with his wife Leesa and, of course, as a kid himself!
"When I was a maths teacher, a parent came into school who couldn’t speak English, so her son translated what I was saying about him for her," Romesh explains. "Later, though, we found out he was completely mistranslating everything. So, I'd tell her: 'He’s really badly behaved’ and she’d nod along, all happy. I'm thinking: ‘This is wild! She’s not reacting how I thought, at all.' All my own report cards at school said, ‘Has potential but no desire to explore it'. I think ‘lazy’ was the most used word!"
Romesh Ranganathan's Parents' Evening: Is there a trailer?
There is indeed. Feast your eyes on this!
Romesh Ranganathan's Parents' Evening starts on Saturday 2 November at 9.10pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
