1988 Each week, there would be four challenges, some in the studio and some on location presented by Ellis Ward. The panellists would each "sponsor" a challenge, and Bruce Forsyth would also sponsor one. If the challenge sponsored by the panellist or Bruce Forsyth was not achieved, that sponsor would have to do a forfeit. (e.g., being a golf
caddie or
air steward for the day). (In the case of Forsyth's challenge, the majority vote determined Forsyth's prediction; an incorrect prediction forced Forsyth to do his forfeit. His explanation for this part was usually, "You're now betting for the fate of Forsyth in the form of a forfeit. If you're right, I'm alright; but if you're wrong, I'm right in it!") It was either broadcast in the studio on the same show or broadcast on location on the following week's show. The show dropped the talk show aspects of Wetten, dass...? and concentrated on the challenges, thus reducing the running time from 2 to 3 hours to 1 hour. The original theme tune was composed by Alan Lisk, better known for penning the theme tune to
Men Behaving Badly. The show's airing slot was originally on Saturday nights. The show closed with Forsyth doing a rap, along with the audience shouting back every "You Bet!" line: ''"Do you wanna bet on it? You bet! Well you'd betta get on it? You bet! So don't fret, get set are you ready? You Bet! Goodnight, God bless, I'll see you next week, bye!"''
1989–1990 A new theme tune composed by Jonathan Sorrell was introduced in the show's second series.
Spring 1991 Series four saw some massive changes following the departure of Forsyth at the end of series three for concentration on hosting other shows like
The Generation Game,
Play Your Cards Right and
The Price is Right. A new logo was introduced and Matthew Kelly took over as host. Also, the challenges increased from four to five, which meant that Ward got involved, with her sponsoring challenges as well. Another change from the Forsyth era was that the celebrity guests could no longer specify the nature of their forfeit should their challenge fail – instead, they had to choose from a list of pre-defined forfeits hidden under cryptic statements – for instance "Dinner Coming Up" meant that the forfeit was to try and eat whilst riding a roller-coaster. Kelly also got involved in doing the work on location challenges, as well as Ward. Finally, if Kelly's challenge ended in failure, he had to do his forfeit, regardless of the audience's prediction.
Autumn 1991 Series five's airing slot was moved from Saturday to Friday nights and a reworked version of the theme tune was introduced.
1992–1993 The departure of Ward as co-host led to the number of celebrity guests being increased from three to four per show and Kelly doing all the work on location challenges.
1994 The show's airing slot was moved back to Saturday nights and the remaining episodes of the seventh series were sponsored by
Daily Mirror.
1995 For the show's eighth series, it was decided there would be no more forfeits for both the celebrities and host Matthew Kelly when sponsoring their challenges until the forfeits were reinstated in for series nine in 1996 after Darren Day had taken over from Matthew Kelly as host. Instead, they introduced the celebrity challenge, where the lowest celebrity scorer would do only one forfeit challenge, which would be broadcast in the following week's show. The public then got to vote in at home to donate £1,000 to a charity of their choice if the celebrity succeeded or failed the challenge. The set was replaced by a new "arena" that allowed much more floor space for the challenges. It was during series eight when Matthew Kelly had announced his intention to leave the show after four years to concentrate on hosting
Stars in Their Eyes. The viewers' phone vote for the celebrity challenge was dropped after series eight was shown.
1996 For series nine, actor
Darren Day took over as host from Kelly who had left the show to concentrate hosting
Stars in Their Eyes. The role of co-host that had been absent during series six–eight following the departure of Ward at the end of series five was reinstated for all the work in the location challenges. For this penultimate original series,
Diane Youdale, who was better known as Jet from the UK series of
Gladiators, would take over as the new co-host with the number of celebrity guests being from four to three. The forfeits, having been absent from the earlier series also returned to the show, but they were not chosen by the celebrity guests. They were automatically chosen by the crew at the end of each show for the celebrity who had lowest score in the show.
1997 The show introduced a new item for the celebrities, they could play their
YOU BET! BONUS CARD, which meant their points would be doubled if they successfully guessed the outcome of a challenge (which can only be played once in the entire show). The celebrity challenge returned to the show, and the audience got to choose which challenge they would choose for the lowest scoring celebrity at the end of the show from two choices with cryptic clue titles (e.g., "Ooh! That's better!" or "Dangling Down").
Sarah Matravers, well known as a gong girl from
Take Your Pick!, replaced Youdale as co-host for this final original series. A new theme tune was introduced, composed by Simon Webb.
2024–2025 After a 27-year-hiatus,
Stephen Mulhern and
Holly Willoughby became the new co-hosts for the revived series, which contained only two episodes; the first of these was aired on a Saturday night and the second on a Sunday night. The number of celebrity guests per show was again increased from three to four, with
Rob Beckett appearing on both shows. A new theme was composed by
Marc Sylvan. In March 2025,
Holly Willoughby declined the opportunity to host a new series. In a series in autumn 2025, Stephen Mulhern brought the show on tour across England to landmarks like
Goodwood Circuit,
Thorpe Park,
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park,
Boscombe Pier,
The Leeds Studios,
Harewood Speed Hillclimb,
Liverpool City Centre and
Kimbolton Castle. The show was aired on a permanent Saturday night slot. The number of celebrity guests per show was again reduced from four to three and the forfeit finale was no more plus the show was no longer presented from a traditional studio. ==Episodes==