'The audience were so scared'

Host Dermot O'Leary on the new comedy show where a team of entertainers try to make the studio audience laugh

- WORDS: LAURA CARRENO-MULLER

Silence might be golden - but it can also be chaos.

That's the lesson Dermot O'Leary learnt while juggling his presenting role on This Morning with U&Dave's new comedy competition, Silence Is Golden. In the high-stakes programme, 70 audience members are offered £250k on one strict condition - if any of them makes a sound, they all lose money.

"We were filming at least two episodes a day," the 51-year-old says. "So by the end of it, you're like 'Someone please say something.'"

Dermot would dash to the set from ITV's daytime studio, often working until 11pm. And the constant shift between lively morning antics and deadpan silence left even the experienced broadcaster feeling rattled.

Silence Is Golden is simple - on paper. Stay silent, win a life-changing prize. The twist? Dermot unleashes comedians and entertainers whose job is to make contestants crack.

Dermot is joined by captains Katherine Ryan, former Strictly star Seann Walsh and Taskmaster's Fatiha El-Ghorri, backed by other performers ranging from the mainstream to the bizarre.