Michael McIntyre's Big Show 2023 is here for a brand new series and will be packed with plenty of surprises.
There will be a host of new stunts, dazzling performances and special celebrity guests who will bravely hand over their phones for the 'Send To All' prank which is returning in all its cringe-inducing glory.
The show, which has had a three-year hiatus due to the pandemic, was once again filmed in front of an audience in London's Theatre Royal Drury Lane.
Michael says, "We have got all the same things as before, which I have missed a great deal, as well as lots of amazing ideas and surprises for some very special people. Look out for some incredible Unexpected Stars Of The Show and some very funny Midnight Gameshows."
Here's everything you need to know...
Michael McIntyre's Big Show 2023 release date
The new series of Michael McIntyre's Big Show will begin on Saturday, January 14, 2023 at 6.50 pm on BBC One. The series will be six episodes in total that will air weekly.
What are some of the new surprises in store this season?
Comedian and host Michael promises all kinds of new pranks. "One of my favourites is a brilliant TV takeover of Antiques Roadshow, which features in the first episode. We prank a guy who is a big collector of bits and pieces. His house is full of items that are relatively worthless and when he was out at work I took five or six pieces and we made a fake version of Antiques Roadshow with me disguised as one of the experts.
"Then we secretly watched him filming the episode at home. He just couldn't believe what he was seeing. One by one all his possessions were appearing on the show and he was genuinely losing his mind!"
Where does Michael get the inspiration for his surprises and pranks?
Michael says, "The Antiques Roadshow one came from something I'd done I’d recorded an episode of Countdown for my flatmate and then played it the next day at the correct time so he thought he was watching live. He couldn’t understand how I was getting all the answers right."
Which celebrities will be handing over their phones in Send To All this series?
The first brave celeb to surrender their phone for Michael's cheeky prank will be Radio 2 DJ and Strictly It Takes Two presenter, Rylan.
Michael says, "We've got some really fun ones lined up. Lewis Capaldi is brilliant, Alison Hammond is completely hilarious, Jonathan Ross seems to know every famous person in the world, some of them are still texting him back now. Stacey Dooley had a problematic phone that we just couldn’t get reception with so that caused its own fun challenges. We did one with Jermaine Jenas where Antony Joshua texted back quick as a flash challenging him to a fight!"
What can Michael tell us about The Unexpected Stars Of The Show this series of Michael McIntyre's Big Show?
"We always have children in every series and there are two sisters who are 13 and 10 who absolutely blow the roof off when they sing Walk On By," says Michael. "They were seriously good. We have a lady called Anne who is in her 70s and has been blind since birth. During lockdown, she sang on her road for her neighbours and it was one of them who nominated her for the show. She was the loveliest, sweetest person and she got to duet with one of her singing heroes. It was incredible and one of the best Unexpected Stars we’ve ever done."
Have the pranks and surprise ever gone awry on Michael McIntyre's Big Show?
"There was a guy who threw us out when we were going to do the Midnight Game Show on him", says Michael. "We had M People singer Heather Small in his house all lined up. I asked him a question and he just went, ‘Nah, you’re alright. Get out’ and we all just had to traipse out."
He continues, "We’re doing a Midnight Game Show with Alexander Armstrong this series and he spent the whole time rather stunned going, ‘I can’t believe you actually do this for real!’"
Your disguises are always great but has anyone ever seen through them when you've been trying to prank them?
"In the Antiques Roadshow prank I came quite close to being recognised", says Michael, "I was putting on a posh voice pretending to be one of the experts but because my voice is already quite high on the dial of poshness, occasionally I would slip into my own voice. I have to say I didn’t have the greatest prosthetic nose either. Towards the end the man we were pranking said the dreaded words, ‘Is that Michael McIntyre?’"
Michael McIntyre's Big Show — what are some of the other surprises in store this series?
Michael says, "We do in incredible one involving an amazing man called Paul Stratton who has been doing lots of work to help people in Ukraine and so we wanted to celebrate him. He’s an Everton fan and so in conjunction with Everton FC we rigged up the stadium with secret cameras. I spent the whole day as a fake Everton mascot called Mickey Kickey and we got Paul on the subs bench where he was suddenly called in to take a penalty. It was a proper pre-season match and the crowd, who were in on the surprise, were going crazy. It was so heartwarming, everyone was in tears."
Michael McIntyre's Big Show 2023 starts on Saturday, January 14 2023 at 6.50pm on BBC One.
