For some reason this came up on Twitter this afternoon (probably because I pointed out it’s three months until Wie is De Mol and six months until De Mol). Here is a list it’s difficult to argue with:
The big question, of course, is where does German tennis star Michael Stich fit into this list?
Anderson Cooper that low…?
Anderson Cooper BELOW AHMAD RASHAD!?
Yeah, I think I can find things to argue with. (Hell, I’d argue Jon Kelley over Ahmad Rashad)
Honestly, blasphemous as it may be, Anderson Cooper just *wasn’t that good* at hosting The Mole, partly because the US version really wasn’t that great during his tenure. The first season’s a carbon copy of the first two Belgian seasons with about 35% of the charm, and the second season is outright terrible and a good pick for the most overrated reality season of all time. (Other contenders: Survivor: The Australian Outback, Brian Dowling’s Big Brother season, the first Australian season of Masterchef.)
Source: It’s my list.
My opinion of first season of the American and Australian versions is brought down by the fact that I saw the British version first, so it was like seeing the same thing again but with less interesting hosts. Grant Bowler in particular sounds like a very tired version of Glenn.
I’m currently in New York to attend New York Comic-Con 2019 and actually asked the staff at the Facebook Watch booth on the convention floor if there is any truth to the rumor (which came up on this site about a year ago in a Stool Pigeon) that Facebook is producing an international version of The Mole.
Whoever was working Facebook’s booth had never heard of The Mole; when I attempted to describe it, the response was “so kind of like The Greatest Race?”. Yes, he said “greatest”, not “amazing”.
Worth a try.
Out of the versions I’ve seen, the rankings for me would go
Gilles de Coster
Glenn Hugill
Art Roojakkers
Anderson Cooper
Rik van de Westelaken
Grant Bowler
And I’ve either seen not enough or none at all of the other hosts so I can’t comment on them.
I would say the best host of De Mol is the original polish host Marcin Meller.
Despite my obvious bias, GDC is the only choice for me. Not only is he a great host, but he’s also a huge fan of the show anyway and I think enjoys messing with everyone as much as he enjoys hosting the show anyway. I also have a huge soft spot for Bowler on both Mole and TARAU.
Two annoying things about the Jon Kelley season
“Ah yes iPhones are popular now so instead of the tension of tapping in names on a keyboard this season let’s just install a touch screen TV!”
How he pronounced “Craig” as “Crag”, maybe an American thing but it sure did grate on me!