The Hit List’s Rochelle and Marvin Humes tease celebrity specials and series 7

The Hit List, a music quiz show on BBC One, challenges contestants to name as many hit songs and artists as possible under intense pressure. Presented by fan favorites Rochelle and Marvin Humes, the show features three pairs of contestants who showcase their music knowledge for the chance to win a £10,000 jackpot.

Produced by Tuesday’s Child Scotland, The Hit List is known for its fast-paced and exhilarating format. This Scottish branch of the multi award-winning company is also behind global hits like the EMMY-nominated LEGO Masters and The Fortune Hotel.

Since 2019, The Hit List has continued to captivate audiences with its blend of nostalgia, competition, and musical excitement. Tune in to witness three teams battle it out, aiming to become the ultimate music masters and take home the grand prize.

• Watch The Hit List on Saturday 17 August at 6.20pm on BBC iPlayer and BBC One.

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Interview with Marvin and Rochelle Humes

How does it feel to be in the seventh series of The Hit List?

Rochelle: It’s so weird when you hear that it’s actually seven years, but at the same time, it still feels so fresh, which is a nice place to be in. We say it all the time, but it’s our dream show. It’s the show that we’d be watching if we didn’t host it. So we’re just happy that it’s back!

What’s your favorite part about hosting the series together?

Marvin: Working with my wife, that’s my favorite part. This is the only thing that we do together professionally, and it’s a very unique thing to do because it doesn’t feel like work. We’re doing a show that we love and we know it inside out. Working with Roch is super easy because I’m working with the person I know the best and vice versa. We’re very, very lucky, and very fortunate – and we are still married after seven years!

The series is produced and filmed in Scotland. What’s it like to film in Glasgow?

Marvin: We love going to Glasgow. We’ve got such great memories of that city from when we were both in our bands. Everyone is so friendly – the further north you go, the friendlier everyone is! And my nan is from Dundee, so I’ve got Scottish blood.

Rochelle: When you meet someone Scottish on a night out, you like to sing a song about shoving your granny off a bus, right?

Marvin:Yes! If you’re a true Scot, then you know it.

The show has both regular episodes and celebrity specials. How do the dynamics differ between these two types of episodes?

Rochelle: With the celebrity episodes, the contestants have this confidence that they’re going to perform really well, so sometimes it’s quite amazing to watch how the mighty fall (laughs). Then in our civilian shows, those contestants are much more tuned into the gameplay. Their knowledge of music is so brilliant, but they’re always a little bit more unassuming. I quite like the difference in the dynamic because it’s the complete opposite.

Marvin: The civilian shows record very quickly, because they’re like a human Shazam! Considering the celebrity ones, although they are a lot of fun, we often run out of songs because the celebrity contestants keep skipping them instead of answering the question.

The Hit List has become a staple for Saturday night TV. What do you think makes the show so appealing to viewers?

Rochelle: The Hit List has that family value – it’s perfect for parents, for kids, for your granny! It’s a real family viewing experience. That’s always a winner in our home because we always love to have something that our siblings, our friends, our parents, our kids can all sit down and watch together.

Marvin: It’s got that inclusivity built into the rounds – especially the first round where we go from the 2010s back to the 70s. No matter what age you are, you’re going to know at least a couple of the songs.

If you could choose any music artist to make a guest appearance on The Hit List, who would it be and why?

Marvin: I always say the same person, and that’s Sir Elton John. Obviously he is an absolute music legend, an icon and he’s been making music for decades now! But he’s also so in tune with today’s music. He’s got a radio show on Apple Music and he’s always championing new artists, so he’s really got his finger on the pulse of what’s fresh and what’s trending. I’d love to know if he watches The Hit List! We love having radio DJs as well. They tend to be super competitive because they’re listening to music all day every day.

Rochelle: They take it very seriously, especially because in those episodes, they’re playing for money for charity but you can also tell that they’re in it to win for themselves!

Marvin: It’s always fun to play with DJ’s too because these are people that know that they should do well, but then they get knocked out in the first round! They are worried that their expertise is going to be challenged.

What has been the most surprising or impressive musical knowledge displayed by a contestant?

Marvin: This season we have Sally Lindsay and Eddie Kadi as a team

Rochelle: That was my favorite duo!

Marvin: They had different music tastes but they managed to fill in each other’s gaps perfectly!

Rochelle: Eddie is a massive afrobeats fan, and he was able to pick an “Afrobeat” game in one of the rounds and managed to knock the other team out, so they played really tactically.

Marvin: Those are always the best combinations, when you’ve got two people coming together from two different music backgrounds. That’s why parent and child combinations are always great!

Which is a more intense atmosphere – I’m A Celebrity… or The Hit List?

Marvin: (laughs) The Hit List is a walk in the park! I actually have a little I’m A Celebrity… reunion with Nick Pickard and Danielle Harold on this season and it was the first time I’d seen them since the jungle, so that was great. When you’ve lived in the jungle with someone you have a really unique connection, so it was really great to get to see them again.

Tell us about some of the celebrity specials we can look forward to this season

Marvin: We had Jedward on the show and they were absolutely amazing. They were so up for it and had so many amazing stories to share. They were name dropping constantly – everyone from Whitney Houston to Gemma Collins! But then, during the gameplay they were unstoppable, we were so impressed. We also had Layton Williams and Angela Scanlon on another episode…

Rochelle: Layton was performing for us and everything!

Marvin:He was just amazing. Then we had Rick Edwards and Harry Judd and they were great, Paul Sinha and Joe Sugg, who were brilliant.

Rochelle: I mean, Paul is the quizmaster, right?

Marvin: Of course! He’s a Chaser. But he is equally very good with music knowledge as well. The celebrity specials for this season are great.

What do you enjoy most about interacting with the contestants?

Rochelle: It has to be their love of music. Of course, our roots for both of us are in music. So to be around people that enjoy it as much as we do is a dream. And you can tell when we’re filming that everybody loves it as much as us, so we’re always so happy that they’re as excited to be a part of it as we are.

Do you find it difficult to not shout out the answers?

Rochelle: Sometimes it’s tricky, and on the celebrity shows because it’s for charity we do have to spoon feed them the answers sometimes (laughs). But in the civilian episodes when they’re playing for money for themselves, we can’t help them out because it has to be taken really seriously. But we’re always rooting for them!

Are you competitive amongst each other with games? Do you ever play The Hit List at home?

Rochelle: I’m not very competitive but we do love to play it at home with the kids. We play every Christmas with buzzers and everything, but I’m like, “Marv, you have to host the rounds” because it’s actually so irritating to play with him (laughs).

Marvin: My mates like to challenge me and I play it with them, but yeah, I host the rounds at home.

Are there any shows you would like to compete on as a couple?

Rochelle: I’d love to do something like Bake Off! I think that could be quite fun. Marv is not good at baking but I’m pretty good at cooking.

Marvin: Yeah, your last Bake Off experience wasn’t that good, was it?

Rochelle: I’m going to defend myself here because I took part in a charity special of Bake Off years ago and accidentally doused my dessert in salt instead of sugar because I didn’t read the label correctly. I was so smug too and Mary Berry was still hosting it then so I was really trying to impress her. So yeah, I think I’d do Bake Off again but make sure it was sugar rather than salt this time!