Vernon to host revamped Play Your Cards Right

Vernon to host revamped Play Your Cards Right
Vernon to host revamped Play Your Cards Right (Image credit: PA Archive/Press Association Ima)

Classic gameshow Play Your Cards Right is apparently making a comeback after almost a decade - with Vernon Kay as host. Family Fortunes' Vernon will take over the reins from showbiz legend and Strictly Come Dancing host Sir Bruce Forsyth, who presented the show - famous for its "Higher? Lower?" catchphrase - from 1980 to 2003. ITV is making a pilot for the revamped version and hopes to air the show next year. A source said: "Dreaming up new game show ideas is not easy so bosses decided to dip into the archives. Play Your Cards Right was massively popular and it's an easy concept so they figured, let's bring it back. "Vernon is the obvious choice as he's made no bones about his love for Bruce and his desire to be his telly heir." ITV brought back one-off editions of classic game shows for its Gameshow Marathon in 2006 and 2007. Play Your Cards Right contestants had to guess what 100 people answered when surveyed on a subject. Those who guessed correctly went on to play the cards board where Brucie would turn over a giant card, asking if the following one was higher or lower in value.

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.