Netflix Announces Host of The Mole Reboot

By Jenna Anderson

Netflix's highly-anticipated return of The Mole has found a host. On Wednesday, Variety confirmed that MSNBC host Alex Wagner will serve as the host of the reality TV series, which is set to launch on the streaming platform at a later date. The news was first reported by Reality Blurred. Wagner's hosting work includes CBS News' Saturday morning program, as well as Showtime's The Circus. She has recently risen to prominence after hosting MSNBC's Alex Wagner Tonight, taking on the time slot previously held by Rachel Maddow.

"I come to this with a slightly different background from a lot of other cable news hosts," Wagner told Deadline in an interview earlier this year. "I spend a lot of time in the field, and I hope to bring that experience and some of that DNA to the show. I cut my teeth in cultural journalism, and so I hope our show would have space for voices outside the political mainframe, whether those are authors or directors or poets. I hope we can find some space to have a different cross-section of voices, not just because I think that's interesting to me, but I think that that's important in these times. We try and better understand where we are as a country and how we've gotten here."

Inspired by the Belgian series De Mol, The Mole originally aired on ABC for five seasons between 2001 and 2009. In the series, twelve players work together in challenges to add money to a pot that only one of them will win at the end. Among the players is one person who has secretly been designated "the Mole" and tasked with sabotaging the group's money-making efforts. In the end, one player will outlast their competition and expose the Mole to win the prize pot. Anderson Cooper hosted the original first two seasons of The Mole, with Ahmad Rashad and Jon Kelley hosting later seasons. 

"I enjoyed Survivor a lot and thought it was good television," Cooper told Entertainment Tonight back in 2001. "[But] I think The Mole is better. I think The Mole is smarter. The game is more psychologically complex."

"I would lie in bed for an hour or two replaying all of the events," Cooper added. "Trying to figure out: 'Did this person make a mistake on this test, because they're the mole? Or are they just incompetent? Or do they want me to think they're the mole?'"

Fans had speculated about whether or not a new version of The Mole could be in the cards, after Netflix added the first four original seasons onto their platform. 

What do you think of Wagner hosting the new incarnation of The Mole? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

The rebooted version of The Mole is expected to debut on Netflix at a later date.

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