RuPaul New Host Of CBS Wordle-like Game Show, 'Lingo'

RuPaul is known for his performance as the show host of the popular "RuPaul's Drag Race" TV show. The 11 time Emmy winner became the most decorated black artist after the show bagged the award for the top competition four times in a row.

The star was recently contracted to host the game show, "Lingo." The show bears a solid resemblance to the viral online game Wordle. Wordle was created by Josh Wardle before being acquired by The New York Times in a recent purchase.

https://twitter.com/NYTimesWordplay/status/1488263468390232070?s=20&t=lDeiHcwi3VKEB0UqIB33fA

In addition to his role as host, RuPaul is also an executive producer of the anticipated word game show. "Lingo" will be aired on CBS and feature several contestants locked in a word competition for the cash prize. The show's release is slated to be sometime this year.

The Emmy award-winning drag queen show host will present the new word game in addition to his duties as the executive producer. The one-hour-long game show will be released sometime in 2022.

The show will be quite familiar to anyone that has joined the Wordle craze. The contestants will be split into two-person teams then made to guess the words on a grid. Only the first letter of the word will be given.

According to the official synopsis, all this will happen with RuPaul's "witty commentary" in the background. The victor team will engage in a showdown to return home with a cash prize.

"Lingo" reportedly existed long before Wordle, going as far back as some decades ago. CBS started putting in work for its game show version sometime last summer before the online game became popular.

Casting is currently ongoing for the show. The international television format for the game show is owned by All3Media / IDTV and Talpa TV. The All3Media television company's objective media group will reportedly produce the "Lingo" game show for CBS.

The chief executive officer Layla Smith, as well as the objective media America's Jilly Pearce and Ed de Burge from Triple Brew Media, will executive produce "Lingo" along with RuPaul. All3Media already oversaw the production of the game show's adaptation in Italy and Spain and one which recently premiered In the UK.

The UK adaptation is currently showing on ITV and is hosted by media personality Adil Ray. The show got wildly popular during its first week on air and averaged around 1.9 million views. It also had a 20% share, earning it the best game show launch in the 3 pm slot since as far back as 2002.

In a statement talking about the newest game show, the senior VP of alternative programming at CBS, Mitch Graham spoke about the game show and RuPaul's mastery as a television show host. He said, "We give you a letter and you guess it. The word game craze is sweeping the nation and 'Lingo' will deliver a fast-paced, fun, and addictive show for the whole family."

He added, "RuPaul's flair and sharp wit, coupled with the ability for viewers to play along at home, make this a timely show with wide appeal that we're excited to join our network lineup." In a brief statement on the show, the "RuPaul's Drag Race" host said, "We're all ready to have fun again, and 'Lingo' is the answer."

The original "Lingo" aired in syndication in the US as far back as 1987. It was eventually revived as a game show in 2002 for the Gameshow network. It ran from 2002 to 2007, and in 2011, the format was revived again for the network.

The online word game, Wordle, was created by Josh Wardle. The creator ended up selling the game to the New York Times for over a million dollars. Due to the similarities between the game and "Lingo," fans of the game show called out Wardle for allegedly copying "Lingo." Some Twitter users shared the similarities between the two games.

A user wrote, "Is wordle just like 'Lingo?' The black squares means none of the letters are in the word the yellow squares means this letter is in the word but the wrong place, and the green squares mean that the letters are in the right place in the word Is Worldle just recycled hipster 'LINGO?'"

Another user replied to The New York Times announcement of the purchase on Twitter, "Did @NYTimesWordplay just pay a cool million for the GSN game show 'Lingo?'"

https://twitter.com/tiCt0C/status/1488343822908207116?s=20&t=lDeiHcwi3VKEB0UqIB33fA

"Just saw the 'creator' of that word game Wordle sold it for 7 figures to The NY Times.. But it's the exact same game as 'Lingo' TV game show. How's that work? Can someone simply rip off old game shows for app ideas? New app idea: wheel of fortune, but call it 'prize wheel,'" another commented.