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Chris Evans has made a major comeback with the relaunch of TFI Friday and brought the iconic programme to his radio station almost 30 years after it first aired

Chris Evans has relaunched his hit 90s series TFI Friday. The presenter, 59, fronted the hit series during its initial run on Channel 4 from 1996 until 2000 and it became staple viewing at the start of the weekend.

The format featured a mix of live performances and celebrity interviews. Chris left the programme after the fifth series, and big names like the Spice Girls, Davina McCall and Elton John stepped in to take the reins for the last run of episodes in the build up to Christmas 2000. Now best known for fronting his radio show on Virgin, the TV star, who also presented the short-lived revival in 2015, has brought the programme back once more.

The revamped version of the iconic series is currently being released on Virgin Radio’s YouTube channel, and welcoming the audience to the first episode, Chris said: “Hello friends. Thank you for tuning in! Welcome to TFI Unplugged.

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“On the way today, Delroy Lindo, currently nominated for Academy Award, Hollywood Sim Car of course. Also on the way, the hilarious Ross Noble going to be here!”

Some of the more regular segments during the original run of the show included Freak or Unique, which encouraged participants to show off a strange talent. Other items included Fishbowl Challenge, Show Us Your Face Then and Sink Or Swim.

The show also ran a segment called Someone’s Going to Be a Millionaire!, based on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, and on Christmas Eve 1999, TFI Friday became the first British programme to issue a £1 million prize, almost a year before one player won the jackpot on the ITV game show.

Chris became a major television star in the early 1990s, as the Channel 4 show The Big Breakfast which he presented alongside Gaby Roslin, before other showbiz favourites like Denise Van Outen, Zoe Ball and Kelly Brook took on the hosting role.

He wrote and presented TFI Friday whilst working on the BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show, which he eventually resigned from whilst he was live on air in 1997 after Radio 1 refused to allow him to work a four-day week.

He also presented The One Show on Fridays between 2010 and 2015, and later became the lead host of Top Gear in 2015 after the sacking of Jeremy Clarkson.

In 2022, Chris explained on his radio show that a reboot of TFI Friday didn’t need to be on television anymore thanks to the advent of streaming. He said: “Can I tell you a bit more about it?

“Oh, sure. The thing is, you don’t need a TV channel now. You don’t don’t need one. It’s amazing what you can do. TFI Friday doesn’t have to be an hour long, it could be longer, we could livestream it!”

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EUGENE, Ore. — Tyler Bilodeau had 18 points, Eric Daily Jr. had his second double-double this season, and UCLA beat shorthanded Oregon 73-57 on Wednesday night to extend the Ducks’ losing streak to seven games.

Dailey finished with 14 points and a career-high tying 11 rebounds. Donovan Dent scored 11 of his 15 in the second half for UCLA (15-6, 7-3 Big Ten) and Trent Perry, who was scoreless on 0-for-5 shooting before halftime, added 12 points.

The Bruins have won three in a row and five of their last six.

Kwame Evans Jr. led Oregon (8-13, 1-9) with 24 points, which included four three-pointers, and nine rebounds. Nate Bittle, Jackson Shelstad and Takai Simpkins — who are first (16.3 per game), second (15.6) and fourth (12.4), respectively, on the team in scoring this season — did not play for the Ducks due to injuries.

Evans made a layup to open the scoring 10 seconds into the game but UCLA scored the next eight points to take the lead for good. Bilodeau scored seven points in a 13-2 run that made it 26-13 with 7:08 left in the first half.

The Ducks, who started one-of-11 shooting, shot just 25% (eight of 32) from the field, four of 17 (24%) from three-point range, in the first half.

UCLA has won four straight in the series and is 98-42 against the Ducks.

Dailey threw down an alley-oop dunk that gave UCLA its biggest lead at 44-24 with 16:46 left in the game. Evans scored the Ducks’ first seven points in a 12-2 run that trimmed the deficit to 10 about 3 1/2 minutes later, but Oregon got no closer.

UCLA made 20 of 23 from the free-throw line, where the Ducks went six of nine.