Richard Osman steps down as House Of Games host - and thanks BBC fans
Richard Osman has announced that he will be stepping down from House of Games.
The TV presenter and best-selling author is departing the popular BBC show, which airs on weeknights after nearly a decade. He thanked fans and called it the “most fun show” but said it was time for a new host to take the reins.
Osman, 55, who has become known for his Thursday Murder Club series of books, has presented the BBC Two gameshow since 2017. Eight hundred episodes later, he is set to depart the programme.
In a post on social media, Osman said: “Thank you for all your kind words as I step down from #HouseOfGames after nine amazing years.
“It is honestly the most fun show to work on, with the most wonderful team, but, after 800 episodes it’s time to hand over the keys to a new host.
“There are plenty of new episodes still to air though, and I’ll even be filming one final handover week later in the year. It really has been a treat from start to finish.”
House Of Games presented a relaxed take on the gameshow format, with celebrities competing to win novelty items by taking part in an array of games such as Answer Smash, in which contestants are challenged to identify a picture and answer a trivia question by putting the two answers together.
Rob Unsworth, head of daytime and early peak commissioning at the BBC, said: “Richard Osman has established House Of Games as one of our best-loved shows. His contribution to its success is impossible to overstate, and we couldn’t be more grateful for his work over the last nine years.
“But as we wish him even more success in the future, we also look forward to sharing with viewers who the House Of Games’ next resident will be – and will have more on that soon.”
Osman described the team he worked with on House Of Games as “the absolute best team in television” adding that the show was “a great pleasure and honour”.
His successor is expected to be announced in due course.
Osman quit as the co-host of BBC One game show Pointless in 2022, after 13 years, so that he could focus on writing.
Since 2020, Osman has written his cosy crime series of novels, publishing its latest edition The Impossible Fortune in September last year, having released The Thursday Murder Club (2020), The Man Who Died Twice (2021), The Bullet That Missed (2022), and The Last Devil To Die (2023).