Michael McIntyre’s The Wheel series 7: Full celebrity line-up as the BBC game show returns this weekend
Katherine Ryan, Kate Garraway and Bez and Shaun Ryder are among the famous faces strapped to the giant wheelMichael McIntyre’s The Wheel is back this coming Saturday, with another bumper crop of famous faces strapped into its giant celebrity wheel.
The seventh series of the chaotic Saturday night game show kicks off on November 14, and Michael has lined up more than 50 stars to help (and, let’s be honest, occasionally hinder) contestants as they play for life-changing sums of money.
From national treasures to reality stars, footballers and comedians, here’s everyone you can expect to see spinning around the studio.
Who are the celebrities on The Wheel in 2026?
The first episode on Saturday features Michael Ball, Kate Garraway, Isa Guha, Harriet Kemsley, Matt Morsia and Katherine Ryan, with Diversity’s Jordan Banjo and Perri Kiely sharing the show’s famous double chair, as revealed by Radio Times.
Later in the series, one episode brings together ItalianBach, Kerry Godliman, Trevor Nelson, Angela Scanlon, Alex Scott and Josh Widdicombe, with Happy Mondays legends Bez and Shaun Ryder in the double chair.
Another sees Karen Carney, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Harry Hill, Judi Love, Niko Omilana, Tom Rosenthal and Paralympian Ellie Simmonds take their seats.
Father and son Martin and Roman Kemp team up in a further episode, alongside ChrisMD, Alex Horne, Oti Mabuse, Briony May Williams, Jill Scott and Tim Vine.
Also appearing across the series are:
Alan Davies
Big Narstie
Mark Bonnar
Pat Cash
George Clarke
Roisin Conaty
Josie Gibson
Alex Jones
Nisha Katona
Si King
Nish Kumar
Chris McCausland
Jordan North
Dermot O’Leary
Helen Skelton
Zoe Ball
A reminder of how The Wheel works in case you still don’t quite get it!
Seven celebrity experts sit around a huge 13-metre wheel, each with their own specialist subject, such as sport, music or food.
Three contestants sit on a smaller wheel underneath. One is randomly lifted into the centre to play, and picks a subject for their question.
Here’s the twist: the giant wheel then spins to choose which celebrity helps them answer, so the expert they need may not be the one they get.
‘Gold’ expert
Before each spin, contestants can name a “gold” expert to boost their winnings if that celebrity is chosen, and shut down one celebrity in red so the wheel can’t land on them.
A correct answer adds money to the bank, but a wrong answer sends the player back down to the contestant wheel. Whoever is in the centre at the end of the game gets a final Cash Out question to take the money home, and the maximum prize is £230,000.
A game show dreamt up in the bath
The Wheel first spun onto BBC One in November 2020, and Michael has said the idea came to him in the bath, as a kind of “human roulette wheel”.
It arrived at just the right time. The BBC was keen on a format that kept everyone socially distanced during the pandemic, and celebrities strapped to a giant wheel did exactly that.
It has since become a Saturday night staple, and the format has been sold around the world, with versions in France, Germany, Spain, Sweden and the Netherlands. Michael even hosted an American version for NBC in 2022.
Read more: The top 10 hardest ever questions on Michael McIntyre’s The Wheel
How many episodes of The Wheel are there?
The BBC hasn’t confirmed how many episodes are in series 7 yet, but if it follows the pattern of last year’s run, we can expect around nine episodes going out every Saturday night in the run-up to Christmas.
Will there be a Christmas special of The Wheel?
Fingers crossed. Last year’s series ended with a festive episode, Michael McIntyre’s Christmas Wheel, which aired on BBC One on Christmas Day.
The BBC hasn’t confirmed a Christmas special for 2026 yet, but its festive schedule is usually revealed in late November, so we’ll update this page as soon as we know.
The biggest wins on The Wheel
The show has handed out some huge sums over the years, often to contestants with heartwarming stories.
In 2022, school chef Melfred, from Oxford, set what was then a record when he won £96,000, correctly answering that Jupiter’s red spot is a storm, without needing any help from Gloria Hunniford.
Last year, lollipop lady Sally left viewers in tears when she won £110,000, one of the biggest jackpots in the show’s history. She had recently been given the all-clear from cancer and said she would use the money to treat her husband and friends who had supported her.
Michael McIntyre’s The Wheel returns on Saturday, November 14, at 8pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI technology to synthesise source reporting and structured data. It has been reviewed, edited, and fact-checked by our human editorial team before publication.
