Richard Osman returns to game show TV as he teams up with Gary Lineker and darts champ Luke Littler to host major new Netflix special

Richard Osman is teaming up with Gary Lineker to host a new Netflix show starring darts champion Luke Littler.

Beat Luke Littler is a one-off live Netflix show airing on October 30 and will see 20 amateur players from across the nation take on 19-year-old darts prodigy Luke 'The Nuke'. 

TV star Richard, 55, has now revealed he has signed up to act as the show's expert analyst, alongside Gary Lineker as host.

Speaking about his return to game show TV, former Pointless and House of Games presenter Richard said he was 'very excited' to crunch the numbers for the show, which offers a £501,000 prize. 

'I'm sort of an analyst on it' Richard explained on the latest episode of his podcast The Rest is Entertainment. 'I'm interested in the numbers.'

Explaining the show's premise, Richard continued: '20 amateurs come and play Luke Littler and if you beat him over one leg of 501, you win £501,000.'

'Obviously he's the best player in the world. So people think, "how are you going to beat him?" Well, firstly, the people they're going for, they are going to be good darts players. You can't be a pro, but these are good players.'

'We were looking at all the numbers and in any given leg, Luke has got an 85% chance of beating a player at that standard. And so, of course, he's going to win.'

'But 20 legs? I think he's got a 15% chance of winning all 20, which is an 85% chance of giving away £501,000 to an amateur darts player.' 

'Either way it's going to be a load of fun. I'm very excited to be involved in it. As I say, I only say yes to things where I think, "Oh my god, I would love to do that."'

Richard announced in March that he was stepping away from hosting his hugely successful BBC show House of Games to focus on writing The Thursday Murder Club novel series. 

But just weeks later he was unveiled as host of upcoming ITV quiz show The Golden Elevators. The programme will air on ITV1, ITVX, STV and STV Player later this year. 

Richard had presented House of Games since its launch in 2017 but Hollywood actor Michael Sheen was subsequently revealed as his replacement.

Richard is of course no stranger to the quiz world, having co-created Pointless and serving as co-host until 2022.

Despite his exit from the daily shows, he continues to co-host the celebrity editions alongside Alexander Armstrong.

Prior to House Of Games, he earlier presented the short-lived BBC Two quiz show Two Tribes. 

Beat Luke Littler airs October 30 live on Netflix.