Jay Pharoah loves hosting Fox’s The Quiz with Balls even if he wasn’t originally sold on the title.
Pharoah, best known for being a cast member of Saturday Night Live between 2010-2016, had been talking to Fox for a while about hosting a show.
“I’ve been talking with Fox for years, trying to figure out something to do with them,” he told Deadline’s Reality TV Summit. “When this idea came up, it just made sense. There were so many other ones before that I could have done, but this one just seemed right. I didn’t pick the name, okay? I didn’t pick the name. It’s called The Quiz with Balls, but I had nothing to do with that.”
He joked that he thought of his grandmother’s reaction to the title. “She’s in her 80s. She likes talking about me at church. I mean, that’s kind of weird,” he said.
The Quiz with Balls made its splashy debut in May 2024, featuring two families standing on a high platform over a pool. The team must work together to face a multiple-choice quiz where each answer is allocated to a spot with a giant ball positioned up behind it.
It is quite clearly the wettest game show on television and is currently airing its third season on Fox.
“The wettest game show on television, that’s wild to say. It feels good, man. I like giving away money to people that need it. I can’t help you but I can root for you. I can cheer for you,” he said. “It’s like Wipeout crossed with Family Feud. You just have fun when people get knocked in and articles of clothing go off, like a shoe be floating,” he added.
The show, which is produced by Eureka and Talpa Studios, is shot in Belgium. This season it has introduced new games this season including the Do or Die Round. “I think we’ve really upped the ante with the games this season,” Pharoah said. “If you’re in it and you only have one family member, you know, you got to just get one right answer. That gives a chance for people to catch up, and it’s heartfelt.”