The team captains on CNN’s Have I Got News for You might be booking a trip across the pond to appear on the panel show’s BBC sire.
Jimmy Mulville—the English comedian/writer/producer whose Hat Trick Productions launched HIGNFY on the BBC more than 35 years ago—shared during Saturday’s AMA livestream co-hosted by LateNighter that “there are plans afoot” for both Amber Ruffin and Michael Ian Black to appear on the UK version.
The original HIGNFY (rhymes with “dignify”) follows a similar format as its Stateside offshoot, addressing the latest news headlines by way of a series of comedy-driven games. Journalist/ satirist Ian Hislop and comedian Paul Merton serve as the team captains that get paired with visiting guests, while a parade of celebrities take turns hosting each episode.
On the CNN version, Roy Wood Jr. is the full-time host alongside team captains Ruffin and Black.
It was in speaking to the differences between the two versions of the panel show that Mulville let slip his plan to “kidnap” Ruffin and Black and whisk them to the UK. (Roy Wood Jr. already has appeared twice on the BBC version, guest-hosting in November 2024 and May 2025.)
“Roy came over and hosted the UK version,” Mulville notes at the 9:30 mark in the video above, “and there are plans afoot—not that I’ve told Amber or Michael—to try and kidnap them and get them over for an edition.”
Mullville later shared (at the 41:50 mark) that Wood Jr. was such “an immediate hit” with his UK crossovers that “the BBC asks me on a regular basis, ‘Is Roy going to come back?'” (A bid to have Wood Jr. make a December appearance conflicted with his live tour schedule.)
There’s also the notion that Ian Hislop and Paul Merton, team captains on the UK original, could head Stateside.
“Like I said, I’d like to entice Michael and Amber over [to the UK],” Mulville reiterated, “and maybe you can get the two regular guys from the UK to sit in [on the CNN version].” After all, “It’s like a little universe now.”
LateNighter has reached out to a rep for the UK HIGNFY, which launches its 71st (!) season in early April, to keep us posted on Ruffin and/or Black’s possible booking.
Returning to the topic of differences between the BBC and CNN series, Mulville said/quipped, “One big [one] is that your live audiences are, about on average, 50 years younger than ours.”
“We’re a lot younger,” said Black. To which Mulville added, “And of course, we speak very different languages.”
CNN’s Have I Got News for You airs Saturdays at 9/8c, and streams on the CNN app and HBO Max. The Season 4 premiere—featuring guests Andy Richter and media exec Janice Min—was postponed this past weekend due to breaking news, but can be streamed on the CNN app and HBO Max.
I absolutely love this show!! Glad that it is back for another season.