Stephen Mulhern is an English television presenter, magician and comedian best known, as of October 2026, as the host of ITV’s Catchphrase and the revived Deal or No Deal. Born on 4 April 1977 in Stratford, London, he built his career the long way round: first as a teenage magician and Butlin’s Redcoat, then as a children’s television presenter on CITV, and finally as one of ITV’s most dependable prime-time and daytime hosts.
That staying power is the real story: he has moved from children’s television to talent-show spin-offs, Saturday-night segments and full game-show revivals, staying warm, quick and unflappable with members of the public throughout. This article traces that journey and separates what is firmly on the record from rumour.
At a Glance: Stephen Mulhern
- Full name: Stephen Daniel Mulhern
- Born: 4 April 1977, Stratford, London, England — 49 years old as of October 2026
- Occupation: Television presenter, magician, entertainer and comedian
- Best known for: Catchphrase (2013–present), Deal or No Deal (2023–present), Britain’s Got More Talent (2007–2019), In for a Penny (2019–2024), Dancing on Ice (co-host, 2024–2025)
- Early career: Butlin’s Redcoat; youngest member of The Magic Circle at the time he joined; CITV presenter from 1998
- Children’s television breakthrough: Finger Tips (2001–2004) and Tricky TV (2005–2010); Holly & Stephen’s Saturday Showdown (2004–2006) with Holly Willoughby
- Saturday-night home: Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, presenting the “Ant vs Dec” and “In for a Penny” segments (2016–2024)
- Personal life: Famously private; no wife and no children as of October 2026, on the basis of his own past interviews and the absence of any confirmed relationship in reputable reporting
- Current position as of October 2026: Still hosting Catchphrase and Deal or No Deal for ITV; Dancing on Ice was rested by ITV in 2026 with no current plans for another series, and In for a Penny was shelved after six series in 2024
Who Is Stephen Mulhern?
Stephen Mulhern is an English presenter whose career spans almost every kind of light entertainment: children’s television, magic shows, talent-show spin-offs, panel games, street game shows, daytime game shows and live ice-skating finals. He is one of a small group of ITV presenters — fellow ITV regular Paddy McGuinness is another — who can move between a studio game show and an unscripted encounter with a member of the public without losing the audience.
The short answer to “why is Stephen Mulhern famous?” is not one show but a run of them: Finger Tips for CITV children, Britain’s Got More Talent for talent-show viewers, Saturday Night Takeaway for Saturday-night viewers, and now Deal or No Deal for daytime viewers.
Where Is Stephen Mulhern From, and How Did Magic Shape Him?
Stephen Daniel Mulhern was born on 4 April 1977 in Stratford, London, and grew up in east London. His parents, Maureen and Christopher Mulhern, were market traders, and he attended St Bonaventure’s in Forest Gate. His father taught him magic tricks as a child, and family holidays at Butlin’s Minehead gave him his first live audiences.
At 17 he became the youngest member of The Magic Circle. He worked as a Butlin’s Redcoat for two summers in the mid-1990s, toured his own Stephen’s Mega Mad Magic Show after leaving school, and in 1997, aged 20, performed at the Royal Variety Performance after winning The Big Big Talent Show, hosted by Jonathan Ross.
He was later suspended from The Magic Circle after revealing how a trick worked on Finger Tips — he argued that teaching children tricks creates new magicians. The suspension was later lifted.
How Did Stephen Mulhern Break Into Children’s Television?
Mulhern began presenting for CITV in 1998. His first major role was Finger Tips (2001–2004) with Fearne Cotton, followed by Tricky TV (2005–2010) and Ministry of Mayhem, later Holly & Stephen’s Saturday Showdown (2004–2006), with Holly Willoughby — a partnership revived twenty years later.
Children’s television taught him his two defining skills: talking to people who are not media-trained, and recovering from live chaos with a joke rather than a panic. Saturday-morning children’s television was gloriously chaotic — slime, games, live phone-ins, things going wrong on air — and Mulhern thrived in it.
What Was Stephen Mulhern’s Role on Britain’s Got More Talent?
In 2007 he became host of Britain’s Got More Talent, the ITV2 spin-off to Britain’s Got Talent, presenting it for thirteen series (2007–2019) with backstage interviews and unseen auditions.
The role suited him because it was not the main stage: he had to be funny without overshadowing the acts and fast enough to interview a nervous contestant seconds after they walked off stage. He did that for more than a decade, until the spin-off ended in 2019. In 2022 he also stood in to present Britain’s Got Talent: The Ultimate Magician when Ant and Dec were unavailable.
Why Is Catchphrase Stephen Mulhern’s Signature Show?
If one show defines his adult career, it is Catchphrase. ITV and STV Studios revived it in 2013, after a nine-year break, with Mulhern as host; contestants guess phrases from animated picture puzzles (“say what you see”), and in Celebrity Catchphrase famous faces play for charity alongside mascot Mr Chips.
The revival worked because Mulhern understood the format: Catchphrase is a play-along show, and he plays it as a fellow guesser — delighted at a right answer, amused at a gloriously wrong one, never condescending. ITV and STV have kept recommissioning it on that basis, with STV Studios announcing a further Celebrity Catchphrase series in 2026 with Mulhern returning.
The revival began on 7 April 2013, Mulhern has hosted it continuously since, and as of October 2026 it remains one of his two current ITV flagships, alongside Deal or No Deal.
How Did In for a Penny Grow Out of Saturday Night Takeaway?
From 2016 Mulhern became a regular on Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway — friends of his for decades — presenting the “Ant vs Dec” and “In for a Penny” segments.
“In for a Penny” was gloriously simple. Mulhern took to the streets of towns across the UK, found members of the public, and challenged them to complete a series of daft mini-games — with names like Pet Bet, Pump It Up and Diving for Dosh — for the chance to win money. Anyone carrying a penny could play; complete all five rounds and the prize was £1,000 in the famous “In for a Penny, In for a Grand” finale. The segment was so popular that ITV spun it off as a standalone series in 2019, with Mulhern as host, and it ran for six series until 2024.
By Mulhern’s own account it was his hardest show, because nothing was scripted: a member of the public might be brilliant, shy or completely unpredictable, and he had to build a television moment out of it. In October 2026 he offered on Ant and Dec’s podcast to host a revival for nothing — but as of October 2026 ITV has not announced a return, and Saturday Night Takeaway itself went on hiatus in 2024.
How Did Stephen Mulhern Become the Host of Deal or No Deal?
In 2023 ITV announced Mulhern would host the revived Deal or No Deal. The original Channel 4 version, presented by Noel Edmonds, ran from 31 October 2005 to 23 December 2016, built around 22 boxes from 1p to £250,000 and the unseen Banker. ITV announced the revival in March 2023, and the new series launched on ITV1 on 20 November 2023.
ITV’s Katie Rawcliffe said his “infectious warmth and wit mixed with his natural rapport with members of the public is the perfect combination” for the show. The revival was a ratings success — Radio Times reported 13.7 million viewers across series one — and ITV recommissioned it, with new episodes resuming in January 2026 at its regular 4pm weekday slot.
Why does the casting work? Deal or No Deal is a show about one person deciding under pressure. The host must slow the moment down and make the Banker’s offer feel like a genuine dilemma — exactly the skill Mulhern spent twenty years learning with children, talent-show acts and strangers on a high street.
What Happened With Dancing on Ice and You Bet!?
In December 2023 ITV confirmed Mulhern would replace Phillip Schofield as Dancing on Ice co-host alongside Holly Willoughby, twenty years after Ministry of Mayhem. He co-hosted series 16 (2024, won by Ryan Thomas) and series 17 (2025, won by Sam Aston), having stood in during 2022.
That second series proved to be the last for the time being. In March 2025, ITV announced that Dancing on Ice would be “rested” in 2026, with no current plans for another series, thanking the cast and crew who had worked on the show across its seventeen series since 2006. As of October 2026 no new series has been announced.
Similarly, You Bet! returned in December 2024 with Mulhern and Willoughby for two specials, then You Bet! On Tour in 2025 hosted by Mulhern solo; in February 2026 ITV confirmed no new series was planned, though both runs remain on ITVX.
Away from ITV, Mulhern co-hosted Sunday mornings on Heart Radio with Emma Willis until 2018, covers on Virgin Radio UK, and performed headline shows for Butlin’s, where he began as a Redcoat, under a three-year ambassador deal that ended after the 2025 season.
What Is Known About Stephen Mulhern’s Personal Life?
Stephen Mulhern keeps his private life notably private, and this article respects that boundary. What is on the reputable record is brief. He dated EastEnders actress Emma Barton for around three years from 2008, after meeting during a pantomime production of Snow White; the relationship ended in 2011, with Mulhern later describing it as having come to a “natural end”. In 2014, he told the Mirror that he was not in a relationship, that he did not particularly miss having a partner because he was so busy, and that he would like children one day but was in no rush.
A 2024 story linking him to fellow presenter Josie Gibson, after they were photographed holding hands during a Saturday Night Takeaway recording, was denied by both: Gibson told OK! they were “really good friends” with “no romance in the air”, and Mulhern told This Morning he had simply been showing her where to stand. No other relationship has been confirmed, and as of October 2026 he is understood to be single, with no wife and no children. No further speculation is printed here.
Why Has Stephen Mulhern Lasted So Long on ITV?
Three things explain his longevity: he is a generalist whose core performance — warm, funny, unflappable — works across children’s, talent, street, studio and daytime formats; he is genuinely good with ordinary people, making strangers feel safe on camera; and he never tries to be the star — on Catchphrase the puzzles are the star, on Deal or No Deal the contestant’s decision is, and on In for a Penny the member of the public is.
What Is Stephen Mulhern Doing Now, as of October 2026?
As of October 2026, his current work centres on Catchphrase (including Celebrity Catchphrase, recommissioned in 2026) and Deal or No Deal (weekday afternoons on ITV1 and ITVX). Dancing on Ice is rested, You Bet! On Tour has no new series planned, and In for a Penny remains shelved — although Mulhern has publicly campaigned for its return.
Frequently Asked Questions About Stephen Mulhern
How old is Stephen Mulhern?
Stephen Mulhern was born on 4 April 1977 in Stratford, London, so he is 49 years old as of October 2026. He turned 49 in April 2026.
What shows does Stephen Mulhern present now?
As of October 2026, Stephen Mulhern presents Catchphrase (including Celebrity Catchphrase) and the revived Deal or No Deal on ITV. Dancing on Ice, which he co-hosted in 2024 and 2025, is currently rested by ITV, and In for a Penny was shelved after six series in 2024.
Is Stephen Mulhern married, and does he have children?
No. As of October 2026, Stephen Mulhern is understood to be single, with no wife and no children. He has said in past interviews that he would like children one day but was in no rush, and he keeps his private life largely out of the public eye. Rumours linking him to fellow presenter Josie Gibson in 2024 were denied by both of them.
How did Stephen Mulhern become famous?
Stephen Mulhern became famous in stages: first as a teenage magician and Butlin’s Redcoat, then as a CITV presenter on Finger Tips (2001–2004) and Holly & Stephen’s Saturday Showdown (2004–2006), then as host of Britain’s Got More Talent (2007–2019), and finally as the host of ITV’s revived Catchphrase (from 2013) and Deal or No Deal (from 2023).
Who hosted Deal or No Deal before Stephen Mulhern?
Noel Edmonds hosted the original Channel 4 version of Deal or No Deal from 31 October 2005 to 23 December 2016. Stephen Mulhern took over when ITV revived the show, with the new series launching on ITV1 on 20 November 2023.
Is In for a Penny coming back?
As of October 2026, ITV has not announced a return for In for a Penny. The standalone series ran for six series from 2019 to 2024 and was then shelved. In October 2026, Mulhern said on Ant and Dec’s podcast that he would host a revival for nothing and urged ITV to “bring it back”, but that is his personal appeal, not an ITV commissioning announcement.
