Elizabeth Banks reveals why it's a "fabulous feeling" to host 'Press Your Luck'

ABC/Eric McCandless(LOS ANGELES) -- No whammies - stop! New episodes of Press Your Luck hosted by Elizabeth Banks are back tonight on ABC.

October 29, 2020Updated: October 29, 2020
News Channel NebraskaBy News Channel Nebraska

ABC/Eric McCandless(LOS ANGELES) -- No whammies - stop! New episodes of Press Your Luck hosted by Elizabeth Banks are back tonight on ABC.

The game show features contestants collecting spins by answering trivia questions. They can later use the spins to win cash and prizes, which Banks tells ABC Audio is her favorite part of the job "hands down." 

"I get to give away life changing money, and it's not my money," she admits. "It's a fabulous feeling."

Banks is one of at least seven women hosting TV game shows -- a job that, up until recently, was dominated by men. She says she's glad the industry's changing.

"I'm thrilled by the numbers and, it's just one of these weird traditions that just needed to be broken. You know, there's no real rhyme or reason for it. It's kind of just how the world worked," she says.

"I think we are all realizing that how the world works didn't always work for everybody. Like ladies didn't get to host game shows. And there used to be this thing like, well, 'we didn't know maybe if you wanted to host it.' It’s like we did. We always want to do all of it. We want to do it," she adds.

Even so, Banks reveals that hosting a game show wasn’t something she necessarily dreamed of doing as a little girl, but she sure loved watching them. 

"I honestly had never thought about hosting a game show when I was a kid," she shares. "I thought about being on game shows when was a kid, for sure."

"We used to make fake like Plinko boards from The Price is Right. And be at the grocery store and we love Supermarket Sweep when I was little too,"  she recalls. "And we loved Press Your Luck. Loved the Whammy."

By Danielle Long and Jason Nathanson
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Regional

Auditor raises concerns about Nebraska business tax incentives totaling $1.2 billion in lost revenue

Auditor raises concerns about Nebraska business tax incentives totaling $1.2 billion in lost revenue

Grand Island man arrested for felony child abuse after student protest

Grand Island man arrested for felony child abuse after student protest

Pair arrested in Reynolds and Hastings on suspicion of connection to multiple burglaries

Pair arrested in Reynolds and Hastings on suspicion of connection to multiple burglaries

Student discipline bill moves forward in Nebraska Legislature

Student discipline bill moves forward in Nebraska Legislature

One year later, Nebraska State Patrol remembers Trooper Kyle McAcy

One year later, Nebraska State Patrol remembers Trooper Kyle McAcy

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who led the Civil Rights Movement for decades after King, has died at 84

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who led the Civil Rights Movement for decades after King, has died at 84