Keshet 12 greenlights original celebrity roundtable format Who Wants To Start?

Assi Azar hosts Who Wants to Start?

Israeli broadcaster Keshet 12 has commissioned a new original entertainment format created by Assi Azar, Anat Stalinsky and Keshet Broadcasting.

Who Wants To Start? is described as an emotionally driven celebrity roundtable that blends humour, honesty and surprise and will premiere on the Israeli network this summer.

Produced by Baron Productions, the show brings together five well-known personalities who all share one defining life experience – from anxiety and divorce to parenthood, grief or starting over – and places them in a single room, filmed in front of a studio audience, with no script and no prior knowledge of who else is taking part.

The show is already in production with Assi Azar as host and moderator, alongside veteran producer Ido Baron (The Amazing Race Israel, Ninja Israel) and director Anat Stalinsky (The A-Talks, Married at First Sight Israel) attached.

Distributor Keshet International will shop the format globally, launching it at Mipcom in October.

Hilik Sharir, CEO of Keshet 12, said: “At Keshet 12, we look for formats that connect with a broad primetime audience while staying true to warmth, humor and real human connection. Who Wants to Start? does exactly that – creating meaningful, entertaining television without relying on conflict, and showing well-known personalities in a more open, human way.”

Keshet 12 and Keshet International have previously paired on formats that have travelled including Rising Star (adapted in 17 countries), BOOM! and Deal With It! (both produced in more than 20 territories) and The Vault.