It’s a hit in the UK, now the cult game show is coming to the ABC
Stand-up comedian Claire Hooper has had a whirlwind 2025. Her new quiz show Claire Hooper’s House of Games, based on the cult UK series hosted by Richard Osman, is about to debut. However, at the start of the year, she wasn’t even aware of the show’s existence.
“I started 2025 with no knowledge of this,” says Hooper. “I went from not knowing about it to having filmed every single episode in less than two-and-a-half months. Outrageous. I still feel like I’ve got whiplash from how fast it was and what a lovely dream-come-true experience it was.”
Comedian Claire Hooper jokes that she is “mum and dad” while ruling the roost in her new game show Claire Hooper’s House of Games.
The new gig has Hooper, known to many from her co-hosting stint until 2022 on The Great Australian Bake Off and as a team captain on the 2008 revival of Good News Week, managing the bedlam as four celebrities battle unravel puzzles based on trivia.
The premiere week kicks off with Peter Helliar, Zan Rowe, Geraldine Hickey and Bob Murphy all hoping to be the inaugural champion. Hooper feels the relatively low competitive stakes are key to the show’s success. “These are not people who need surgery, these are celebrities and comedians who are just trying to win a fondue set,” she says.
The fondue set she’s referring to is one of the show’s playful jokes, where each day’s winner can choose something from the prize boutique, with every item – from maracas to a pickleball set – emblazoned with Hooper’s silhouette.
Claire Hooper with contestants (from left) Geraldine Hickey, Zan Rowe, Bob Murphy and Peter Helliar.
“What I love is they let me put my own silly things in,” says Hooper. “We’ve done a batch of jam off the plums in my garden, I got a cookie cutter made up of my own face. I said, ‘Could we get a tattoo voucher and we’d pay for them to get a tattoo of the show logo?’ – the producers were 100 per cent on board.” When filming wrapped Hooper was even able to choose a prize for herself: a hat with her face on it “in case I want to be mortified in public”.
While Hooper has been a guest on her fair share of panel shows, she admits her first outing as host is very different.
“Even on Good News Week as team captain, I was still just being a naughty child,” she says. “I would break the rules and it’s the host’s job to allow a little bit of chaos, but keep bringing it back onto the timeline you need it to be meeting. This is my first time being timekeeper, issuing the points, saying good night at the end of the show. I’ve grown up. I’m mum and dad now.”
While Osman has hosted the British version for eight seasons, Hooper was given free rein to make the Aussie iteration entirely hers.
“I think it was evident that I was never going to look or sound like Richard Osman,” she says. “Honestly, I didn’t even realise I was going to have my name in the title. It’s not the convention, certainly not in Australia – even the biggest egomaniacs in showbiz don’t put their own name in the title. It feels silly and it feels like a wonderful achievement. It does make me awfully hard to replace.”
While Hooper has been joyfully riding high in the new role, she’s also been dealing with the devastating low of losing her close friend Cal Wilson after the comedian died from a rare form of cancer in October 2023.
“I can’t believe she’s been gone for over a year now. It is interesting how present she still feels,” says Hooper, citing the catchphrase ‘What would Cal do?’ that is now written above a door at Melbourne’s Comedy Republic. “Our interpretation of that is, is it something brave and kind and fun? If it’s all of those things, then it’s what Cal would do. She’s still around and still really missed.”
Claire Hooper’s House of Games premieres at 6.30pm on Monday, April 21, on ABC and airs weekdays.
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