‘This is My Extreme Sport,’ Says Lilly Singh, Sharing Her Insights and Injuries as Host of BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede Age is just a number on CTV’s BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS, but host Lilly Singh has nonetheless noticed some motivational differences. “I’m just going to say it, my observation so far is that the older generations, the Gen Xers and particularly the Boomers, they’re doing the show for the fun,” Singh said. “However, Gen Z and Millennials, they’re doing it to win $25,000. So there’s a big difference as to why people are on the show.” BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS is in the midst of its first season, with a new episode airing Tuesday, Nov. 14 at 9 p.m. ET on CTV, CTV.ca, and the CTV app (all episodes are available for catch-up on CTV.ca and the CTV app). Each episode pits representatives from four different generations – Baby Boomer, Gen X, Millennial, and Gen Z – against each other in the ultimate pop-culture trivia test. The Lede caught up with Singh to talk about her experiences on BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS thus far:   Q: What do you know now about hosting a TV quiz show that you didn’t know when you started? Hosting can be an underappreciated skill. SINGH: “You’re absolutely right, because even some of the things that I didn’t anticipate being difficult, I was like, ‘oh, wow, this is really hard.’ I’ll give you very specific examples. One is reading. Reading is hard! Reading is hard when you have to read so many words a day. I’m reading hundreds of questions a day, each with an A-B-C-D choice. And at the end of a few days, A and D start to look like the same letter to me. And having to read questions with a speedy delivery, but still clear, is very tough for the rapid-fire rounds.”   Q: Anything else? SINGH: “Pronouncing names can be difficult. I don’t know the answers in advance, but, sometimes if I just happen to know the answer, I have to make sure I don’t reveal anything on my face that would indicate if the contestant is right or wrong. And above all that, perhaps the hardest thing was, I got a very specific injury while shooting the show. It’s not a serious injury, it’s very nerdy. It’s my neck! Looking from the contestants, to the screen, and back again, thousands of times a day, I still have that kink in my neck. This is my extreme sport, right here.”   Q: Do you have a favourite type of contestant? SINGH: “Yeah, I like people with a little bit of pep in their step. I’ve enjoyed all the contestants on the show, but I definitely like to match people’s energy. I feel like I’m really good at that. If I’m ever tired or anything, and someone comes up to me, and they’re really talkative, I will match that energy, and oftentimes surpass that energy. So when someone is talkative and willing to play around, I feel like that really lets me shine as well. I like to joke around. I like when they can take a few teases, and throw a few punches back, too. And I know we’re all Canadians, and we’re nice, and I love that about us, but I also like when people have a little bit of a competitive edge. I don’t mind at all when people are like, ‘listen, I want to win this $25,000, and I don’t care who I have to step over to get it.’ ”   Q: You must have had some assumptions about which generations would do best. Has anything surprised you? SINGH: “As a proud Millennial, I have to admit that Millennials thus far have not been as strong as I would have hoped. We’ll see. There are still a lot of episodes left. As of right now, Gen Z is kind of taking the cake, but behind them, which I’m really shocked about, is Gen X. Maybe one of the competitive advantages for Gen Z is that they’re on social media a lot. So they’ll be like, ‘okay, this is a Boomer question, I’ve never seen this film, but I think I saw a meme about it, somewhere, once upon a time, and I have no context, but I think the answer is this.’ And they get it right, because they’ve just been exposed to so much information. I think that’s what it is. But that’s also what I love about the show. No matter which generation you’re part of, you’re going to be faced with questions from every generation. So you really need to have a pretty vast knowledge of trivia.”   Q: Would you be a good contestant? SINGH: “I keep wondering. I think I would do okay. I will say this, when I was learning the format, I got a bunch of my team on a Zoom, and we did a practice run of the show. And I’m not going to brag, but I might have won that practice game. Word on the street is, there was a practice game, and I beat some of my team members, no big deal. So I feel like I would be a decent contestant, for sure.”   Q: BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS truly appeals to all ages, so if the show keeps going, literally, for “generations,” are we going to have to add a fifth contestant? What younger generation comes after Gen Z? But perhaps by then, most of the Boomers will be, well, you know … SINGH: “That’s pretty dark, but you might be right. We might just recycle the podium.”   billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv