Manchester is to host filming of a new prime time game show version of the popular online word game Wordle this summer, but you’ll have to be American to play, host broadcaster NBC has confirmed.
The show, due be shown in both the UK and US even if there are no plans for UK contestants as yet, will be hosted by Savannah Guthrie, who anchors the US network’s morning news show Today and hit the headlines recently when her 84-year-old mother, Nancy, mysteriously disappeared in February. Nancy is still missing.
The show will be based on the puzzle game of the same name, which has been set daily by the New York Times since 2022 and challenges players to find the same five-letter word in six guesses or fewer. US chat show host Jimmy Fallon’s production company Electric Hot Dog will co-produce the series alongside Universal Television Alternative Studio and Wordle owner the New York Times.
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Fallon said: “I feel very honored to be working with Savannah Guthrie on this show. Savannah has that rare combination of intelligence, charm, and warmth that makes everyone feel instantly welcome. And she obviously knows how to host a show. I am SUPER PROUD and HAPPY and I think we developed a SOLID GAMER for PRIME-time.”
Guthrie has previously noted how the word game had been a point of connection between her and her missing mother.
Episodes will last half an hour and the series is expected to replicate the Wordle typeface and colour scheme. Wordle was originally created and developed by Welsh software engineer Josh Wardle in 2021 and acquired by the NYT at the height of its popularity in 2022, when it was the most Googled word of the year.
UK fans look set to be disappointed if they want to join in, however, as NBC’s casting call clearly states that would-be contestants should be aged 21 and “be a citizen or a lawful permanent residents of the United States with a valid social security or tax identification number,” and “must satisfy any requirements necessary to travel to Europe [sic].” Selected teams will “head to Europe to play the game over a 1-2 week period within July 20 – August 1, 2026,” the casting call adds.
No precise filming location is given beyond Manchester, although our money is on dock10, which already hosts the US, as well as UK, version of the not-entirely-dissimilar, Ru Paul/Adil Ray-hosted CBS hit Lingo.
