Sara Davies, Graeme Souness, Ellie Taylor, John Bercow, Shakira Khan, JB Gill, Ranvir Singh, Jenny Ryan, Danny Aarons, and Joey Essex were named as the first set of contestants on the broadcaster’s newest entertainment format.
It was confirmed in August that Lineker, who left Match of the Day and the BBC after more than two decades earlier this year, would front The Box, which has been described as a mix of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here and SAS: Who Dares Wins.
The show will see the celebrities enclosed in yellow boxes and transported to a mystery location, where they’ll face challenges – physical, mental, logical, and often funny – that they will have to navigate. The two worst-performing celebs will battle it out in The Duel at the end of every episode, with the loser eliminated.
“From my experience, the most successful teams are built on a mix of strengths and abilities, and that’s exactly what we’ve got with this line-up,” said Lineker, who beat Ant & Dec at the NTAs earlier this month. “I’m excited to be on the sideline with a front row seat to see all the action unfold!”
ITV’s director of entertainment, reality and daytime commissioning, Katie Rawcliffe, added: “We’re delighted to welcome this impressive line-up of celebrities to The Box. They will each bring a unique perspective and approach to the varying challenges they will face, and observing how they react will make for incredibly entertaining viewing for our audiences.”
The Box was first launched in Norway in January and will be produced by Twofour, which is part of ITV Studios.
Dan Adamson, chief content officer, Twofour, noted: “We are really excited to see how our brilliant cast rises to the unique challenge of The Box. Each of them brings different skills, strengths and smarts to the mix but who can step out of their yellow box and overcome the unknown to be crowned our winner?”
The Box is coming to ITV in 2026.
Check out more of our Entertainment coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what’s on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.