HE was one of the “big dogs” on BBC smash hit reality show The Celebrity Traitors, but Stephen Fry will now be switching his status over to ITV.
The multi-talented actor and writer is the major signing for series two of groundbreaking interview series The Assembly.
He will be one of six celebrities who face a no-holds-barred grilling from a panel of autistic and neuro-divergent interviewers.
The first run earlier this year earned widespread critical acclaim and appealed to viewers, with almost nine million tuning in.
Danny Dyer, David Tennant, Jade Thirlwall and Gary Lineker took part – and unleashed a string of juicy revelations.
Time will tell whether Stephen, who was dubbed a Traitors “big dog” by fellow contestant Joe Wilkinson, will be quite as loose-lipped when The Assembly returns in 2026.
MAYA JAMA serenades the studio in the new series of A League Of Their Own, which drops on Sky Max tonight.
But it is fellow panellist Jill Scott who really stuns everyone when host Romesh Ranganathan brings up her old tweets that contain some thirsty remarks about another guest, Wayne Rooney.
One tweet, from 2011, read: “Rooney looking hot. Loving his new hair!”
Another said: “Rooney looking hot! Mmmmmmm.”
JACK ABS TO THRILL IN MALICE
JACK WHITEHALL was determined to get serious abs for Prime Video thriller Malice – as he takes his top off a lot.
The comedian turned actor once tried unsuccessfully to do something similar on another drama.
But he finally got the chance to show off his efforts in the gym during the six-parter, which drops on Friday and sees him play a male nanny who turns out be a wrong ’un.
Jack said: “On one of the last jobs I did, it said the character takes off his shirt to reveal ‘rippling abs’. So, I hired a trainer and I worked really hard to try to get the rippling abs. Then they sent out some revised scripts and they’d cut that bit.”
“They’d obviously cast me and thought, ‘There’s no way of doing that!’. So on this one, I was determined to at least put a couple of hours into the gym. I still haven’t got rippling abs, but I’ve got a couple.”
FORMER NASA engineer and inventor Mark Rober is getting his own channel, on Samsung TV Plus.
He has 71million subscribers to his online work and social media.
Samsung says he will “bring his signature mix of science, creativity and joy to television audiences around the world”.
ITV SOAP STREAMS BOOST
ITVX is celebrating a huge new viewing milestone – and it credits drama and soaps for the boom.
Kevin Lygo, ITV’s managing director, said: “Hitting three billion streams this early in the year is a terrific achievement.
“This milestone, hit three weeks ahead of last year, when we had the Men’s Euros, and before the start of I’m a Celeb . . . which is always a huge driver, highlights the sheer volume and quality of content we offer for free.”
The biggest drivers were soaps, up 30 per cent with more than 400million streams, and drama, up 16 per cent with 859million streams thanks to titles like Playing Nice.
Reality was rocking too, with over half a billion streams.
Britain’s Got Talent was the biggest entertainment show, on 24million.
THERE has been a spike in interest for black Land Rovers after their appearance in Celebrity Traitors.
During the 30- day series, the number of people using Cinch’s search filters to view black Land Rovers, which carried contestants, jumped by almost a third per day, the online car retailer said.
ROBERT’S JACKET COPPY
DOWNTON Abbey actor Robert James-Collier is taking on one of the lead roles in new Channel 5 detective series Cooper & Fry.
He co-stars opposite Mandip Gill, and has turned to an old TV cop for inspiration to play DC Ben Cooper.
Robert, who was footman Thomas Barrow in Downton, said: “Ben’s jacket was inspired by Bergerac. He used to wear a tan leather jacket and I wanted a signature jacket.
“I kept wearing it with a zip-up wool top underneath, even though we were filming through one of the hottest summers Ireland has ever experienced.
“Sales of autumnal brown suede jackets will rocket.”
We’ll find out when the show debuts next Tuesday.
