From Britain’s Got Talent and her renovation team-ups with Alan Carr, to the breakfast radio show she co-hosts with Jamie Theakston, Amanda Holden is one busy woman.
However, she’s now taken on a whole new role, that of game-show host on the BBC’s The Inner Circle. With a celebrity-led version of the programme that aired just before Strictly, Amanda, 54, admits she’s delighted to be the ‘warm-up’ act for one of the corporation’s biggest shows.
Here, we caught up with the star to talk all about her new project – and why, finally, she feels like she’s her own boss.
What did you think when you got the call to host a brand-new game show?
‘I wasn’t sure whether doing a game show was right for me – it’s an area I’ve never ventured into – but I was flattered to be asked. One of the many joys of being on breakfast radio is that I can think on my feet and pretty much say whatever I like – and I felt that freedom on The Inner Circle. Every question I put to the contestants and all the banter was made up on the spot, so it felt very natural to me.’
How does it feel to be flying solo?
‘Brilliant! I mean, it’s funny because I didn’t think about it like that when I signed up. Somebody else said to me, “Oh, so this is your own thing” – and that’s when I realised that I’m running the show.
‘I felt confident and in control and I loved the whole mechanics of it. I feel there’ll be more of that going forward. I quite liked being on my own, perhaps I’m in my boss era now.’
How would you describe what The Inner Circle is all about?
‘It has elements of other shows that you might recognise – The Weakest Link, The Traitors and Golden Balls with Jasper Carrott – all in one!
‘It’s all about general knowledge and human nature. All the way through [contestants] must choose people who they’re going to eliminate and there’s a vote where they must pair up with somebody at the very end.
‘Everybody has a secret amount of money; it’s up to them if they want to disclose it or play without ever telling anybody what money they’ve got. Or they can pretend they’ve got more money than they have and win extra along the way. It’s ever-changing!
‘The name of the game is to get into the final, which is two players working together or sneakily apart. Ideally, it’s the people with the most money and the best combined brains trying to win the jackpot together, but nobody knows the amount of money anyone truly has.
‘The jackpot can either be split equally, or they can shaft the other person and take it all for themselves. They both have to decide whether to split or shaft – if only one person shafts, that person keeps all the money. If they both vote to shaft each other, then they both go home empty-handed. It kicks off big time!’
How’s your general knowledge after so many episodes?
‘Oh, I’ve learned so many facts, but I only remember the stupid ones! Did you know that a giraffe and a human have the same number of cervical vertebrae in their neck? Madness! And that a banana is classed as a berry?
‘It was those things I absorbed, probably great after a few glasses of bubbles at a dinner party. Did you know that a slug has teeth? It really has, thousands of them. I’m not sure how useful those facts are but they’re the ones that stuck.’
How does it feel to be so successful at this stage?
‘It feels extraordinary because there are no signs of me slowing down, which obviously is brilliant because I don’t want to. I feel grateful for every opportunity and I’m here in my 50s having the time of my life.
‘Breakfast radio really changed the game for me. There’s only one me, though, so I might have to slightly do less to fit in a book or a stage show!
‘I’m not sure I’m being the best mother at the moment, as much as I include them in everything I do. Although my 1 3-year-old [Hollie] doesn’t care as she goes up to her room anyway, so she wouldn’t even know if I was in or out. Plus, I see less of Lexi as she’s at university and has her own life that she’s leading away from home now.’
Why should people watch The Inner Circle?
‘It’s glamorous and nail-biting with real jeopardy at the end that I don’t think anybody is expecting while they’re dunking their biscuits in a cuppa!’
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