‘The Mole’: Anderson Cooper Not Returning as Host

The Mole has seen a resurgence in popularity in the past year, many due to Netflix adding past seasons of the show to its service. The licensed stint was apparently so successful for Netflix that it has opted to reboot the former ABC reality competition. However, Anderson Cooper, the host most synonymous with the series, will not be back.

Some thought the combination of Netflix’s deep pockets and the ongoing behind-the-scenes shakeups at CNN might convict the Anderson Cooper 360 anchor to helm The Mole once again. However, Vulture reports that Cooper, 55, is not attached to Netflix’s version.

“The one big mystery left surrounded the new version: The host,” Vulture’s West Coast Editor Josef Adalian reported on Wednesday. “Netflix isn’t ready yet to announce who will be filling the role, though a person close to the show confirms to Vulture that, alas, the CNN anchor will not be reprising the role.”

Before he became one of the most prominent journalists on CNN, Cooper hosted Season 1 and Season 2 of The Mole, which sees a group of competitors try to put as much money as possible into a winner’s jackpot while trying to figure out the identity of the one saboteur among them. At the time, Cooper’s run at ABC was winding down and he was desperate for a change of pace. However, after a two-season stint, he shifted back to journalism.

“I’d worked at Channel One for three years doing combat stuff and then at ABC for five years,” Cooper recalled to mediabistro.com in May 2004. “My last year at ABC, I was working overnights anchoring this newscast then during the day at 20/20. So I was sleeping in two- or four-hour shifts, and I was really tired and wanted a change. I wanted to clear my head and get out of news a little bit, and I was interested in reality TV — and it was interesting. But two seasons was enough, and 9/11 happened, and I thought I needed to be getting back to news.”

After Cooper’s exit, ABC rebranded the show as Celebrity Mole for Season 3 and Season 4, with NFL player-turned-sportscaster Ahmad Rashad hosting. After a hiatus, the show returned for a non-celebrity Season 5 in 2008, with Jon Kelley named as the new host. That was the end of The Mole, at least until the Netflix reboot rumors began in 2021. None of the three former hosts have commented on the reboot as of press time. However, Cooper did slight the show a bit back in 2018, noting it was “too confusing” during a CNN segment with Andy Cohen.