Gary Lineker, David Tennant, Jade and Danny Dyer to star in ITV’s The Assembly
The show will air on ITV1, ITVX, STV and STV Player later this year.
Match Of The Day presenter Gary Lineker, former Doctor Who star David Tennant, ex-Little Mix singer Jade and actor Danny Dyer are to star in new ITV interview show The Assembly.
Each episode of the show will see a different celebrity face questions from a group of autistic, neurodivergent and learning disabled people which will force them to cast aside their media training, with no topic off-limits.
It comes after a BBC pilot for the show, which received critical acclaim when it aired, with actor Michael Sheen telling The Guardian: “The Assembly’s had more response than anything I’ve ever done.”
Katie Rawcliffe, director of entertainment and daytime at ITV, said: “We’re delighted that such an esteemed group of famous faces have agreed to be part of this fresh and distinct format coming to ITV1 and ITVX soon.
“Gary, David, Jade and Danny’s interviews with The Assembly all promise to be captivating, unmissable television with real warmth and we cannot wait to share it with our viewers.”
The show has been adapted from French series Les Rencontres Du Papotin, which launched in 2022 on France 2.
It featured appearances from notable French figures including Killing Eve star Camille Cottin and President Emmanuel Macron, who was asked by the panel if it was “really role model behaviour to marry one’s teacher”, to which he replied that you do not choose who you “love”.
Lineker, 64, is set to leave his role at the BBC football highlights show at the end of the current football season and also had a high-profile career as striker, which saw him become the first England player to win the World Cup Golden Boot.
Tennant, 53, starred as the 10th Doctor in the BBC sci-fi series and has also appeared in Netflix’s Rivals, film St Trinian’s 2: The Legend Of Fritton’s Gold and BBC series Around the World In 80 Days.
Brit-nominated singer Jade, 32, full name Jade Thirlwell, topped the charts with girl group Little Mix before going solo in 2024 with the single Angel Of My Dreams, which reached number seven in the UK singles chart.
Actor Dyer is known for his role as Queen Vic landlord Mick Carter in BBC soap EastEnders, appearing in football hooliganism documentary The Real Football Factories and most recently for starring in upcoming film Marching Powder.
Rockerdale Studios, which will produce the show alongside ITV, said it has worked with national and local autistic and neurodivergent organisations to ensure every element of the programme works for autistic and neurodivergent voices.
The show has also been adapted for audiences in Australia, Denmark, Poland, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland, and is in production in eight other territories.
The four-part series will air on ITV1, ITVX, STV and STV Player later this year.
The Assembly will be made using part of ITV’s diversity commissioning fund, launched in 2022.
The fund reserved £80 million of the content commissioning budget over the next three years to help drive change towards racial equity and disability equity, in whose stories get told and who gets opportunities in TV production.
