Stephen Mulhern makes major TV mistake for first time in 10 years

Stephen Mulhern looked mortified as he had an absolute howler on Catchphrase.

The 48-year-old TV veteran has been on screen for almost two decades, and took over as the new host of the classic ITV gameshow when the revival launched in 2013.

Even after over 10 years and more than 150 episodes under his belt, no one’s perfect – and Stephen has proven that anything can happen in television.

Over the weekend, he was fronting a celebrity special of the hit show – which sees contestants try and figure out a well-known idiom or phrase from a short animated video – featuring Jeremy Vine, Charlie Hedges and comedian Luke Kempner.

The clip in question showed pastries with rapidly escalating price tags, which then burst through the roof of the coffee house.

‘Literally, the prices have gone through the roof,’ Stephen said, before quickly realising he’d given away the actual answer instead of just offering a helpful hint.

Jeremy buzzed in and asked: ‘Sorry, what? Was that the answer?’

‘I have never in my life done that, in 10 years,’ Stephen admitted, putting his head in his hands as the contestants and audience laughed.

‘I was just thinking, “This is a very tricky one, if it’s not that,”‘ quipped Luke, before joking Stephen’s own prize money total was up to £200.

Jeremy added that the awkward moment was ‘a bit of Catchphrase history’.

Not surprisingly, viewers had a field day with some very tongue-in-cheek calls for Stephen – who reported to be among TV’s richest stars late last year – to be ‘sacked’.

‘He really has to go for this. I can’t see how he stays on,’ @HarvesterStallo sarcastically wrote, while @stokeyjoey24 quipped: ‘Embarrassing. Ben Shepard would never do anything like this.’

And @utahisethan joked: ‘ITV can confirm that Stephen Mulhern has been dismissed from his duties on Catchphrase and that Gary Lineker will take over until the end of the season.’

Another viewer, @GavMack23, teased: ‘Roy walker would never.’

Catchphrase first aired in 1986 with Irish comedian Roy Walker at the helm, followed by Nick Weir in 2000 and Mark Curry two years later, before the show was axed.

It returned a decade later with regular contestants, but from 2018 onwards the show has featured celebrities competing against each other to win £50,000 for their chosen charity.

The programme was recently commissioned for an 11th series, and ITV commissioner Gemma John-Lewis said: ‘We’re delighted to announce a further series of the much loved family favourite, Celebrity Catchphrase.

‘The only show where you say what you see, the hugely popular series continues to win legions of fans and with Stephen’s infectious and playful humour it’s a firm favourite with our viewers.’

Watch Catchphrase on ITVX.

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