The ITV gameshow will return to our screens this evening but with a new twist
The 1% Club presenter Lee Mack(Image: ITV)
A spin-off series from The 1% Club is hitting TV screens tonight. ITV’s new Rollover special will be on every day this week with Lee Mack back at its helm. This time round the rules are slightly different, with players having the chance to grow the prize pot to a life-changing amount of £500,00.
Starting Monday, December 8, 100 contestants will take their shot at winning the show each night. In a newly added twist, any finalist who successfully answers the 1% question will return the following evening to play again.
This allows the prize pot to roll over, giving returning players the chance to double, triple, and continually grow their winnings throughout the week.
If a contestant manages to keep winning for five nights in a row, they could walk away with an extraordinary sum. The show is hosted by Southport-born Lee Mack, whose real name is Lee McKillop.
Lee Mack on The 1% Show(Image: ITV)
He is well known for writing and starring in Not Going Out, and for serving as a team captain on BBC One’s Would I Lie To You? His early comedy attempts began at school, where he performed impressions of Bobby Ball at age 15.
Lee’s passion for comedy grew over time. On The Graham Norton Show in 2020, he recalled a disastrous early attempt at performing as a Pontins Blue Coat—a night he now credits with pushing him towards a full-time comedy career.
After being moved from Hemsby to the Morecambe site, he began performing at open-mic nights while studying at Brunel University. His first proper gig came in 1994, and within 18 months he had turned professional.
Lee Mack and his wife and daughter
He rose to prominence after winning So You Think You’re Funny at the 1995 Edinburgh Festival Fringe and made his TV debut in The Sketch Show in 2001, later appearing in its US version.
Lee met his wife, Tara, at Brunel University in 1995. They married in 2005 and share three children—Arlo, Louie, and Millie. Despite his high profile, Lee keeps his private life out of the spotlight and rarely uses social media.
One of the few personal details he has spoken about is the couple’s unusual approach to travelling: Tara flies with the children while he drives to meet them, joking that airlines refuse to let him “sit up front and drive it”.
In an interview with the Liverpool Echo, Lee explained the mental technique he relies on to calm his nerves before gigs—telling himself he’ll never see the audience again.
Lee Mack hosting ITV’s 1% Club(Image: ITV)
It’s also why he refuses to perform in his hometown of Southport. “You can’t say that if your Auntie Gladys is in”, he joked. Liverpool, the closest he comes to a hometown show, still makes him anxious because he often bumps into people from his past as he leaves the venue.
Despite his success and strong Merseyside ties—his entire family supports Liverpool FC—Lee has been open about personal challenges, particularly his relationship with alcohol.
On his 2021 podcast I Can’t Believe It’s Not Buddha, he revealed that reading a book by Allen Carr changed his attitude towards drinking.
Although he wasn’t a heavy drinker, growing up in a pub meant alcohol had long been a part of his life. The book helped him reassess that relationship, and he has since become an ambassador for Alcohol Concern, continuing to speak publicly about sobriety and the positive changes it has brought him.
