Everything we know about the 1% Club Celebrity Special – air date, celebs taking part and host Lee Mack’s ‘worries’

He was worried about how well the celebrities would do…

Quiz show The 1% Club has been running since 2022 but so far, fans haven’t been treated to any celebrity surprises.

That is, until now…

Presenter and comedian Lee Mack recently let slip that he and the crew had already filmed a special episode featuring a roster of celebrities that will be coming to ITV in due course.

Now, ITV has revealed that the 1% Club Celebrity Special for Soccer Aid will air this coming spring…

Lee Mack will host a celeb special of The 1% Club (Credit: ITV)

What do we know about the celebs in the 1% Club special episode?

Comedian Lee Mack confirmed the existence of an upcoming celebrity special of his notoriously challenging quiz show The 1% Club during a segment on Capital Breakfast.

He was in conversation with Jordan North, Chris Stark and Sian Welby.

Lee didn’t spill the beans on which specific celebrities would be taking part in the special. However, he did give a clue.

“Well, it’s Soccer Aid special,” he said. “So, it’s ex-footballers. With some celebs as well.”

This, he explained, sparked a minor concern, seemingly because he expected footballers to have more specific subject knowledge relating to their sport or others, rather than the sort of general knowledge his game show tests.

“So, you can imagine we were worried no one was going to get past the 80% question.”

But he was pleasantly surprised.

The group did well, he said. Surprisingly well.

“If I told you that Neil Razor Ruddock did really well, you’d be as surprised as I was,” he said.

Celebrities taking part

In its spring brochure, ITV has now revealed some of the names taking part.

The statement reads: “Lee presides over a Soccer Aid for UNICEF episode where 100 stars from the world of sport and entertainment battle it out to see if they can get in The 1% Club and, more importantly, raise important funds for UNICEF.

“This unique edition of the show sees 100 famous faces pushing their logic and common sense to the max.”

It then added: “Contestants looking to make it into the prestigious 1% Club include Paddy McGuinness, Tommy Fury, Jill Scott, Max Whitlock, Mark Pougatch, Kimberley Wyatt, Jake Quickenden, Iain Stirling, Gemma Atkinson, Mark Chapman, Neil Ruddock, Tony Bellew, Brian McFadden, Amber Gill, AITCH, and many, many more.”

Known variously for his work on Not Going Out, Would I Lie To You? and numerous other projects, Lee is one of Britain’s most celebrated comedians (Credit: Would I Lie To You?/YouTube)

What about a release date date?

We don’t have an exact air date yet for The 1% Club’s celebrity special. However, since Lee said it is a Soccer Aid special, and the ITV brochure features shows on screen between now and June, we can apply some deductive reasoning.

Soccer Aid doesn’t run at exactly the same time every year, but for the last three years, it’s happened in early mid June.

In 2024, it took place on June 9. In 2023, June 11, and it fell on June 12 in 2022.

2021 was an anomaly, during which Soccer Aid happened in September. But before that, it happened in June 2020.

In other words, it’s likely that Soccer Aid will fall in mid June as it has in several previous years. And Lee’s celebrity special is likely to broadcast around the same time.