Stephen Mulhern to present ITV daytime gameshow ‘Pick Me’

Possessed, the ITV Studios entertainment production label founded by Glenn Hugill, has landed its first commission with Stephen Mulhern fronted gameshow Pick Me set to air in ITV’s daytime schedules.

Twenty five instalments of the outside-primetime show have been greenlit with the format revolving around ‘getting picked’. Stephen can choose whomever he wants from the entire studio audience to play, so they have to catch his eye! In the game, a contestant plays to win a prize against a panel of three players who are each trying to win £1000.

The prize is hidden in one of the panel’s podiums, so the contestant simply has to find it by asking each a question. If they have the prize, the correct answer will show on their screen, but if not, it stays blank and the panellist will have to make up a convincing answer on the spot. The contestant must then guess which one has the prize – but whichever panellist they pick will win the cash, whether they have the prize or not, so all of the panel must convince the player to pick me!

“Pick Me genuinely makes real people the stars and features lots of ‘can you believe they said that?’ moments for both the studio audience and the viewers at home as our players attempt to bluff each other absolutely on the spot. It’s an unpredictable, laugh-out-loud, feel-good family entertainment in the grand tradition of the classic game shows of the 1980s and it’s a real pleasure to watch Stephen having such fun at the helm. It’s a party with an open door!” – Managing Director of Possessed, Glenn Hugill

Possessed has also made a number of personnel appointments recently, bringing on-board Paula Cowles as Production Executive and Kate Stannard as Development Executive. Together with Hugill and recently appointed Development Executive Paul Brassey, they form Possessed’s senior management team.

Paula Cowles was previously Production Executive and Line Producer for the previous three series of the multi award-winning Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway (ITV), as well as Takeaway on Tour, which took the show around the UK. Earlier credits at ITV Studios include Piers Morgan’s Life Stories (ITV), Come Dine With Me (C4) and Hell’s Kitchen (ITV).

Kate Stannard was mostly recently a Senior Producer at Studio Lambert, where she produced Steph and Dom Meet…(C4). Previously, she was Senior Development Producer at Monkey Kingdom, where her credits included Tour Group (Bravo); Development Producer at BBC Entertainment, with credits like Junior Paramedics (BBC3) and Development Producer at Endemol, where she co-created Jedward’s Big Adventure (CBBC).

Paul Brassey joined Possessed earlier this year from CPL Productions, where as a Development Producer he created the multi award-winning A League Of Their Own (Sky 1) and developed shows including Decimate (BBC1). He previously held this role at a number of production companies, including North One Television, BBC Entertainment, where he devised Beat the Pack (BBC1) and 12 Yard, where he was part of the team that developed The Colour of Money (ITV).

“Paula, Kate and Paul are three of the smartest and ingeniously creative executives in the business and it’s a measure of the growth of Possessed that we’ve attracted such highly regarded and accomplished talent so soon. Their collective experience is such that together we now are uniquely positioned to target any slot in the schedules with equally heavyweight punch.” – Glenn Hugill

Pick Me was commissioned by Helen Warner, ITV’s Director of Daytime. The format will be distributed internationally by ITV Studios Global Entertainment, who will launch it at MIPCOM.