Paul Sinha brings his TV Showdown to ITV

Paul Sinha hosts a brand new quiz show with a difference this coming weekend and the Chaser has spoken about it ahead of the first episode debút.

Paul Sinha’s TV Showdown sees two teams of three familiar faces from the world of telly do battle in the ultimate TV trivia quiz.

Each week, regular team captains Fay Ripley and Rob Beckett will go head-to-head with their respective teams, which include Emilia Fox, Adil Ray, Melvin Odoom, Laura Whitmore, Janet Street-Porter, Roman Kemp, Shirley Ballas and more.

Featuring clips from the best-loved shows, adverts and music videos from today and recent decades, Paul tests the teams’ knowledge of what’s on the box, from Blind Date to Bake Off and everything in between.

Round-One sees contestants answer questions based on a clip. Round-Two, they must identify a TV star based on a set of clues given by a celeb guest.

In Round-Three team members pick a category and each answer a question based on that. The fourth round sees each panellist face their own set of questions in a quick-fire Q&A before scores are totalled and the winning team is announced.

How did it feel to be the host of a quiz?

“It was quite extraordinary. Seeing your own name in lights is the most discombobulating part of the whole experience. That they’ve handed you this level of responsibility. I’ve only been part of stuff before, rather than driving it from the middle. I was surprisingly not nervous, but emotional.”

Did you seek any advice from anyone, such as Bradley Walsh?

“No, you’ve got to forge your own path and have your own ideas about what you want to do. If people give me advice, unsolicited, I’ll of course listen and listen very carefully. But this year of all years, the last thing I wanted to do was dump myself on other people. People are busy.

“Bradley’s so good, so is that really the best starting point for trying to learn? Or should you keep your ambitions a little bit lower? But you watch him again and again and again and you know why he’s good.”

How were the team captains Rob Beckett and Fay Ripley?

“Rob I’ve known for a few years and we knew we’d get on. There’s banter. It’s all in jest. Fay, I’d never met her before. She’s a force of nature, that’s for sure.

“They are surprisingly competitive given the nature of the programme suggests you shouldn’t take the scores too seriously. You realise that people in general are competitive.”

Did any of the celebrity guests surprise you in their knowledge?

“Yes, but I’m not going to say who it is…”

Were any of the celebrities competitive?

“Yes, every single one of them pretty much. They were all taking it seriously.”

Which round is your favourite?

“As a quizzer myself, I like the last round. That’s when reputations are made as each member of the team gets their own set of questions.”

Are you a telly buff?

“I used to be a telly buff, now I watch it because I need it for my job. I’m very good on 80s and 90s TV and less good on the last 20 years.”

Paul Sinha’s TV Showdown starts Saturday 9th January at 10pm on ITV