ITV’s new gameshow 99 To Beat almost looked very different with two fan favourites auditioning for the hosting job.
The new series, which premiered across the weekend, sees brothers Adam and Ryan Thomas taking on presenting duties as 100 people go head-to-head for the same prize pot.
In order to win, they must beat the other 99 players and avoid coming last at all costs.
But on Capital FM today, Jordan North and Alison Hammond revealed they both previously tried out for the slot but it didn’t work out.
During the chat, Sian Welby revealed she hoped Alison would host a reboot of BBC’s Hole In The Wall, following Flying Eze exclusively revealing she was lined-up for the job.
“Could you believe that came out in the paper?”; the This Morning star responded, before coyly adding: “I mean, who knows, I may be doing a pilot, I may be not!”;
She then clarified: “I obviously wouldn’t promote it because you never know with a pilot.
“The point of a pilot is I might be rubbish at it and they might go ‘you know what we need Jordan instead. We don’t need Alison Hammond, we need Jordan to do this show.’”;
Former I’m A Celeb star Jordan agreed and then revealed: “There’s a show on the telly that started this weekend that I did the pilot for it, and they’ve gone with someone else. And I thought ‘oh it got commissioned then!’”;
“It happens all the time!”; Alison declared, before asking what the show was.
When Jordan revealed it was 99 To Beat, Alison laughed: “Babes, I think I went for it as well!”;
“Oh, okay that makes me feel better!”; said Jordan.
“I think the best thing to do Jordan is to pretend like it wasn’t for me,”; Alison told him.
“I go ‘you know what, I did the pilot, but it wasn’t for me.’ And if I don’t get Hole in the Wall, I’ll be like ‘do you know what, I looked at it and it wasn’t for me.’”;
While the pair may not have landed 99 To Beat, they’re still regular faces on our TV screens, with Jordan previously hinting he could be on this year’s Celebrity Big Brother.
Speaking exclusively to Flying Eze at the TV Choice Awards 2025, Jordan said: “I’ve just signed a TV show for ITV but I can’t say what it is yet. When they said it, I thought ‘ohh, I might do’.
“We start filming in April, two months away. I’m excited to do it, it’s intense.
“A lot of people don’t think I’d probably do it.”
Meanwhile Alison has her hands full as a regular face on This Morning, hosting Great British Bake Off, is a panellist on Sky’s Smart TV with Rob Beckett, and taking over from Paul O’Grady on docuseries For The Love Of Dogs.
