Reputations Are Busted and Confirmed in Season 2 of BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS, Says Host Lilly Singh

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede   BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS is a culturally fascinating game show that often specializes in breaking down stereotypes regarding age. But which of those stereotypes are actually true? BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS, hosted by Lilly Singh, returns for its second season, Wednesday, May 21 at 10 p.m. ET on CTV, CTV.ca, and the CTV app. Each episode of the series pits representatives from four different generations – Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers – against each other in a wide-ranging and compelling trivia competition. Through her experience hosting the show, Singh – who is also an executive producer – is perhaps better positioned than anyone to identify the generational reputations that have proven to be fairly accurate. “I’ll tell you the No. 1 thing, the one that I think is the most consistent,” Singh replied. “Sure, every once in a while you’ll get a Gen Z who isn’t into social media, or something will come out of a Boomer’s mouth that I really didn’t anticipate. But consistently, the generation that has the biggest chip on their shoulder is Gen X.” And how has that manifested itself? “I will say that Gen X always comes in being like, ‘I have something to prove. I’m here for my pride, for my whole generation,’” Singh continued. “They are really there to prove Gen X is alive and well, and shouldn’t be forgotten. So that’s very consistent.” Now that Singh brings it up, it’s noticeable that even in various news stories or TV reports about social issues, the focus is often on the philosophical tug-of-war between Millennials and Boomers. Poor Gen X rarely even gets mentioned! “I know! It’s as if they’ve spent their whole lives being invisible,” Singh agreed. “But now they’re here on BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS, trying to be seen. And I will say, I don’t want to have any spoilers, but Gen X really came through this season.” As always, however, BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS is full of ageless surprises. “What’s fascinating to me is, sometimes, you know, there’ll be a Gen Z contestant who’s like, ‘actually, I’m really confident in Boomer music’ – they just really like Boomer music,” Singh said. “Or we’ve had several Boomers, a lot of grandmas for some reason, who come on, and they’re like, ‘I love Tiktok, I have a Tiktok following.’ So this show has really taught me to never judge a book by its cover.” The multi-talented Singh is always very busy, and she recently became a part owner of the Toronto Tempo, a new expansion franchise in the WNBA that is slated to begin play in 2026. But even with everything that’s going on in her life, the more time Singh has spent hosting BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS, she acknowledges that her personal trivia skills have improved… somewhat. “I’m not a trivia expert by any means – I think some people assume that I memorize the answer to every question,” Singh said with a laugh. “There are a lot of questions! Twenty episodes worth of questions! So I don’t know. But I will say, I’ve gotten slightly better at trivia. I wouldn’t say I’m a pro, but slightly better. But one thing that has happened is that, for the first time in my life, now, amongst my family and friends, I host trivia for them, too.” So do they just assume you’re going to handle the hosting duties, whether you volunteer for it or not? “Yes – but I don’t mind, because I love it, I love it,” Singh said. “I’m like, ‘hey, I have actual professional experience that can help me with this.’”   billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv