TV game shows · October 2026
How to get on a UK game show
Advice for applying, then the calls that are actually open. Each button goes to the broadcaster or the producer, not to Prize Desk.
Before you apply
- Use the official form. A Facebook post that offers to get you on is not the casting team.
- Answer the questions about you, not only the ones about quizzes. They are choosing a person a viewer can follow for half an hour.
- Keep a note of the facts you will type again: age, town, job, a phone you answer, and a recent photo if they ask.
- Say if you have been on television before. Hiding it is how people get dropped late.
- Read who cannot apply. Staff of the producer and the channel, and often their families, are out.
- If they phone, pick up. Casting numbers often look unknown.
- Do not pay a fee to release a place, a prize, or an audition. The real forms are free.
Practise the shape of that show. Fastest Finger is not the same skill as Countdown numbers, and a Mastermind specialist subject is not a pub quiz. Famous shows are crowded. A smaller daytime show is often the more realistic first application.
The Chase was not taking applications when this month’s list was checked. Watch ITV Be on TV rather than paying someone who claims they can put you in Bradley Walsh’s lineup.
Open in October 2026
7 calls are still inside the published dates. A show leaves this page the morning after its closing date. One with no published deadline stays until the broadcaster withdraws the form.
ITV
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Jeremy Clarkson · Up to £1 million
Individuals, 18+.
The classic 15-question ladder. The published audition window runs to 30 October 2026. The form itself closes on the 19th.
Applications close 19 October 2026
BBC One
Bridge of Lies
Ross Kemp · Cash for the team
Teams of four. Applicants must be over 18.
Produced by STV Studios. You can use the form or email the casting address for an application.
Applications close 25 October 2026
ITV
The 1% Club
Lee Mack · Up to £100,000
Individuals, 18+, living in the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man. Not if you have already been on the show.
Series 6, a rollover series, and the 2026 Christmas and New Year specials. Filming is at Elstree between 3 November and 13 December 2026. The email is for access requirements, not a second application route. The deadline is subject to the producer’s discretion.
Applications close 30 October 2026
BBC Two
Only Connect
Victoria Coren Mitchell · A trophy, not a cash jackpot
Teams of three, pairs, or a single applicant. 18+, resident in the UK or Channel Islands.
Register by email or post. Staff of Banijay or the BBC, and their close relations, cannot apply. Casting is for a 2027 series.
Applications close 30 November 2026
Only Connect, c/o Remarkable Entertainment, 46 Cardiff Road, Llandaff, Cardiff CF5 2DT
No published closing date
These forms were open with no deadline on the official page. Check that page before you spend an evening on the form. It can be withdrawn without notice.
BBC One
Bargain Hunt
Antiques experts · Whatever profit the team makes at auction
Pairs. Both people must be 18 or over and fit for a day at a fair. No upper age limit.
Produced by BBC Studios. You and your teammate each need to be eligible: not BBC staff, and not someone who has worked with the BBC recently. They do not reply to every application.
No closing date published
Channel 4
Countdown
Channel 4 daytime · The series champion’s prize, not a cash million
Individuals who can do the letters and numbers rounds under a clock.
The contestant form is on Channel 4’s take-part page. Email is for the application, not for audience tickets.
No closing date published
BBC Two
Mastermind
Clive Myrie · The Mastermind trophy
Individuals with a specialist subject and decent general knowledge.
Hat Trick Productions says casting for the 2026/27 series is open, with no published closing date. Email them if the form misbehaves.
No closing date published
Where the next calls appear
New series are announced on the channel’s own take-part desk. Start there when this page looks thin, which it will, just after a run of deadlines.
- ITV Be on TV
The place new ITV contestant calls are posted, including when The Chase next opens.
- BBC Take part
BBC shows that are actually looking, from Mastermind to Bargain Hunt.
- Channel 4 Take part
Channel 4’s own list. Countdown lives here.
If a detail looks stale
Prize Desk does not cast these shows and does not take applications. The producer’s page wins if it disagrees with this one. Corrections come to [email protected], or through the contact form.