The host of CNN’s Have I Got News For You is set to hop across the pond to guest host the show that started it all.
The BBC announced today that Roy Wood Jr. will host (or, as the Brits like to say, “present”) the original UK edition of Have I Got News For You on November 8th.
Under normal circumstances, Wood might be at something of a disadvantage hosting a UK-based news show, but with the U.S. presidential election likely to be top news worldwide that week, he should be in fine shape.
“Thank you to the HIGNFY team for giving me gainful employment as a TV presenter in England, a country that I hear has no issues whatsoever with immigration,” Wood joked in a statement. “To seek asylum in England, one must have left their country of origin due to a well-founded fear of persecution. Depending on which way the Presidential election goes in America, I might be hanging around England for a while.”
Now in its 68th (!) season, Have I Got News For You originated on the BBC in 1990. From the very start, Ian Hislop and Paul Merton have served as the show’s team captains. For the show’s first 12 years, it was hosted by British actor, writer and musician Angus Deayton. Since 2002, different guest presenters have hosted the show on a weekly basis.
The Wood-hosted US edition premiered on September 18th. Amber Ruffin and Michael Ian Black serve as permanent team captains, with each joined by a different guest panelist each week. The show’s UK producer, Hat Trick Productions, developed the American adaptation with the CNN Originals team.