Nine revives game show Weakest Link with Magda Szubanski as host
Nine is reviving the game show Weakest Link, which last ran for a year on Seven between 2001 and 2002.
Nineteen years later, Nine will make a number of changes to its local interpretation of the global format, including installing a new host, comedian and actor Magda Szubanski, and introducing a number of other twists.
The program, which has been produced in 46 countries, features eight strangers become a team and work together, with the aim of pocketing the maximum amount of prize money in each round.
Participants take turns to answer general knowledge questions and build a chain of correct answers. If a contestant answers a question incorrectly, they break the chain and force the team to restart on the lowest rung, and the least amount of money. The team votes out the ‘weakest link’ at the end of each round.
“I’ve pretended to be nice my whole career – now I finally get to play myself,” Szubanski said.
“No, I will not be making the contestants look stupid. They’re perfectly capable of doing that themselves.
“Weakest Link is right up my alley. I love to watch people squirm, and not in a sexy way. I look forward to hosting some of Australia’s best and brightest . . . just not on this show.”
Szubanski
The format was most recently brought back in the US, with Glee’s Jane Lynch as its host. Almost two decades ago on Seven, Weakest Link was hosted by actor Cornelia Francis, who died of cancer in 2018.
Nine’s turn at the show will be produced by BBC Studios, and follows Ten launching its own version of an international game show format in The Cube. The Andy Lee-hosted show is airing during prime time on Wednesdays, premiering to 567,000 metro viewers and picking up 351,000 last week. The Chase, meanwhile, is regularly a strong performer on Seven, airing on weekdays in the late afternoon.
“Weakest Link is one of the world’s most popular and enduring quiz formats,” said Nine’s head of content, production and development, Adrian Swift.
“It’s not just about what you know, but also knowing who’s your biggest threat and when to bank your winnings. All of that combined with the much-loved Magda Szubanski being anything but loveable in the role of Australia’s strictest quizmaster. We are very proud to have the new Weakest Link here on Nine.”
BBC Studio’s director of production across Australia and New Zealand, Kylie Washington, added that Szubanski is “the perfect host who will preside over the contestants with her acerbic wit as they do battle to avoid being voted Weakest Link”.
“We are delighted to reintroduce Australians to this fast, fun and addictive show which is a pop cultural phenomenon,” Washington added.
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Brittney Rigby was Mumbrella's deputy managing editor - news and analysis. She left Mumbrella in April 2021.
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