Drag Race star RuPaul to take over hit ITV gameshow!

RuPaul
Ru's off to ITV. (Image credit: Getty/Karwai Tang/WireImage)

Drag Race host RuPaul will take the helm in a celebrity version of ITV gameshow Lingo.

Screening in the evening, Celebrity Lingo will have the same format as the daytime version, which began a successful run on ITV in 2021.

However, rather than members of the public taking part, it’ll be some of our favourite celebs who’ll be vying to fill in the blanks and find the missing words in the face-paced game.

RuPaul is delighted to be hosting the celeb version of the show, which will have seven one-hour episodes.

“Now, more than even before, people want to have fun, and celebrity Lingo is here to serve it up generously,” says Ru.

Ru shot to fame in the UK as a singer, having a top 40 hit in the UK with Supermodel (You Better Work) in 1992.

Later, Ru hosted his own talk show and acted in film and TV series.

In recent years, RuPaul’s Drag Race, where drag queens compete in a series of tasks, has been a huge hit, spawning several spin-offs and international version, including RuPaul’s Drag Race UK in 2019.

Adil Ray Lingo

Adil's back for a third series of wordplay. (Image credit: ITV)

Meanwhile, the daytime series of Lingo is set to launch a third series later this year, with original host Adil Ray OBE returning.

“I’m so grateful to everyone watching at home, the entire crew and our fab contestants for giving me another chance to host one of the best shows on TV!” he says. “Even those who shout four-letter Lingos to me in the street!”

He then adds, “Welcome to the team Ru Paul!”

The game sees three sets of contestants compete against each other to reach the End Game – where they could double their money or lose everything.

Both versions of Lingo will screen later in the year, with Lingo on ITV daytime and the Celebrity Lingo airing in prime time.

Steven Murphy
Writer

Steven is a writer, editor, and commentator with a passion for popular TV and soap operas. He spent 20 years as the editor of Inside Soap magazine, documenting every punch-up and pucker-up in the Street, the Square and the village. As a feature writer, he’s covered TV crime dramas, period dramas and even some real-life star dramas. He’s been seen as a talking head on more TV clip shows than he cares to remember, has a life-long passion for TV sci-fi – the older and creakier the better – and is a slight obsessive about any reality show featuring hotels.