Sonja Angelevska is about to find out whether being underestimated can be an advantage. The 32-year-old from Ipswich appears in the debut series of Nobodys Fool, ITV's new reality quiz show, which launches at 9pm on Saturday, May 23.
Ms Angelevska applied after seeing a casting advert asking whether viewers considered themselves “the smartest person in the room”. She was not sure she would describe herself that way, but her partner urged her to go for it anyway. Nine years after moving to the UK, she said the opportunity was too unusual to ignore.
The show was filmed over 11 days last summer, but contestants' friends and family were kept in the dark for almost a year. That secrecy fits a format built around strategy, deception and intelligence, with players challenged to persuade others they are cleverer than they really are while competing in daily quiz rounds. Contestants are also allowed to lie about their performances and achievements.
For Angelevska, the atmosphere on set quickly became its own test. She said it felt intense because everyone was constantly questioning whether they could trust one another, and she compared the experience to “the first day of school”. That pressure was sharpened by a rule that could cut the day's winnings in half if the contestant who had contributed the least to the prize pot stayed in the competition.
She said the format made every interaction feel loaded, because even ordinary conversation could hide a calculation. The result is a quiz show that depends as much on nerve and reading people as it does on getting answers right.
Angelevska also came away with a strong impression of the presenters. She described Emily Atack as “down to earth” and approachable, and said Danny Dyer was exactly the same off-camera as viewers see on television. The pairing anchors a show that asks players to bluff, perform and second-guess one another from start to finish.
Nobodys Fool arrives at a moment when broadcasters keep looking for formats that mix competition with personality, but its hook is simpler than that: the game rewards people who can mislead without getting caught. For Angelevska, the open question is not whether she wanted to be the smartest person in the room. It is whether she could convince everyone else that she was.
