ITV Tipping Point new rules: All you need to know as the format changes

Fans of ITV Tipping Point were less than impressed by the new rules introduced to the game show to mark its 10th anniversary with many viewers choosing to 'switch off' the show.

You can't beat a good gameshow like The Chase of which the Queen is a huge fan, or Pointless and not forgetting the Wim Hof new show which puts celebrities through their paces.

But when Tipping Point returned earlier this week there was a huge shake up to the new series that aired on Monday with Ben Shephard returning as host but eagle-eyed fans noticed a number of changes to the popular show, which were much to their disliking.

As we look at the new rules...

What are the ITV Tipping Point new rules?

ITV Tipping Point new rules have seen a change to the number of contestants allowed to play during each episode being cut from four to three and in the second round they have 45 seconds to answer a question, an increase from 30 seconds.

Previously four contestants would join Ben Shephard on the show with chat in between taking it in turns to answer questions on the subject of general knowledge to win counters which they then drop into a large coin pusher arcade-style machine in the hope of pushing the other prize counters off the edge in a nail-biting game.

But as the series returned to screens for its 10th anniversary, there is notably now only THREE contestants taking part in the show battling it out in the hope of winning big money on the coin dropping machine - the exact same format as the celebrity edition.

And loyal fans are not happy and are starting to switch the show off.

One disgruntled viewer tweeted, "Tipping point@itv @benshephard - thought I would give new format another chance today gave up at 14:19, I have watched for years since I retired, you have now lost 1 viewer, how many more will you lose before you realise a mistake has been made by altering format."

Another unhappy fan wrote, "@TippingPointITV @ITV and @benshephard I love Tipping Point, I have watched every episode and that's a lot. Would love to be a contestant but the chances of becoming one now have gone down by 25%! Why change something that wasn't broken? It wasn't as though it was costing ITV any more prize money."

Meanwhile a third fan noticed something else missing, they added, "Good to see this show celebrate ten years on ITV. Out of interest, why was the number of contestants reduced from four to three, and when will we see the #BenHugs again on the show? The Ben Hugs are a massive part of Tipping Point in my opinion."

And another ITV viewer warned bosses that they'd be "very upset" if they made changes to the popular format of The Chase or Lingo.

But host Ben Shephard made no explanation to the format changes when he tweeted, "Brand new #TippingPoint starts today, celebrating 10 years on your tellies!  And we kick off with some corkers  Never mind Hadrian’s Wall, we might not get over this one for a while! @tippingpointitv weekdays 4pm @ITV @WeAreSTV."

But he told This Morning TV presenters Vernon Kay and Josie Gibson, “We love the support we've had from so many watching it, ten years of Tipping Point, thank you to everyone who has watched it. A few changes for this series as well, you can see there are only three contestants so you'll get to see that in the daytime shows at 4pm on ITV.”

The changes were also teased on the official Tipping Point social media account, “Brand New Tipping Point returns to ITV. And to celebrate 10 Years on your screen things have been shaken up in the studio a little…”

Do the losers on Tipping Point keep the money?

The losers on Tipping Point don't get to keep the money - only the winner at the end has a chance to take home any money. The others leave with nothing except any non-cash prizes they may have won during the game.

Tipping Point is centred on a huge machine and in Round One contestants each have three counters. They take it in turns to answer general knowledge questions in the hope of winning the chance to put one of their coins in the machine or they can tell one of the other contestants to put something in the machine - a tactical game play if they think the machine is not likely to pay out. The computer launches them down to the sliding drawers in the hope of pushing off other counters resting on the edge below. Any counters that fall down out of the machine are awarded to the contestants.

But if contestants give a wrong answer to the general knowledge question then they lose one of their coins and this is placed into a penalty pot, which will be resolved later.

Players drop out of the contest when they have no more counters in hand, and at least one question will be addressed to one player only. Then the penalty pot comes into play: every question answered incorrectly has resulted in one token dropping out of play, and they're all awarded to the winner of one final question.

That player's able to drop them in, one after another, and might be able to progress some counters to all drop at once.

Every counter in this game is worth £50, but only the eventual winner can take any money home. Whoever has the lowest score after round one leaves with nothing.

Round Two - the game continues with one question worth one chip, but this time each player now gets 45 seconds to answer questions (instead of the previous 30 second limit) and build up their stock of counters and play them all at once in the hope of having a bigger impact on the drop.

The contestant who is in the lead has the option to take their question first or they can tactically pass to one of their opponents and the lowest aggregate score after the opening two rounds leaves the game.

Round three - the players go head-to-head and three questions will be asked to each of the players. A right answer means they get to insert the counter: a wrong one gives the counter to the opposition. There's also an option to pass the question across to the other player, who again needs to give the correct answer to keep the counter.

The players face the viewers question which has three possible answers and the questions in the final round are also multiple choice.

After inserting a jackpot counter in the machine (and taking any money that falls out) the contender is assigned six categories to choose from. For each category, they can pick a question worth one, two, or three counters, and these mark an increase in difficulty.

The main aim of the final round is to get the jackpot coin out of the machine and if player nudges it out they'll win £10,000. If not, they will receive £50 for every coin retrieved throughout the game.

After all six categories are played, if the jackpot coin is still in the machine, the player is offered a final offer - three more counters to try and extract the coin but in choosing this option they will risk losing their current prize money. And unless the jackpot coin is hanging on the edge, contestants tens to take their winnings home which are typically in the region of £2,500.

Last month Ben Shephard shared a video clip of fans watching the game show in a pub cheering as the contestant retrieved the jackpot prize coin and you can watch their electric reaction below...

How can I join Tipping Point?

You can join Tipping Point by filling out an online form on the ITV website, or you can apply to join via post or email. In order to qualify as a contestant you must be over 18 and a permanent legal resident in the UK. If your application is successful you must also be dedicated to turning up to filming on the day.

Applications for the next series are currently open online but if  you would like a postal application please write to: Tipping Point Applications, RDF Television West, Regent House, Regent Street, Bristol, BS84HG, stating your name and address or email us at apply@rdftelevision.com. The closing date for applications is May 16th 2022.

If you are returning your application form by post, your application form must reach us by May 11th 2022.

Where is Tipping Point based?

Tipping Point is based in Bristol at the Bottle Yard Studios. More than 175 new episodes are usually filmed for each new series and the filming often takes place over the space of two months. Ben Shephard has previously revealed he misses his family while filming away.

Tipping Point is on ITV weekdays at 4pm, ITV+1 an hour later and it's also available on the ITV Hub.

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