Ali İhsan Varol

Ali İhsan Varol — Biography

Ali İhsan Varol is best known in Turkey as the presenter and producer of the quiz show Kelime Oyunu (Word Game). Beyond hosting and producing he has worked as a writer and actor. He is of Circassian origin, with family roots in the Pınarbaşı district of Kayseri. He handed the show to İbrahim Selim in 2023; a new game show, Alfapetek, was announced for him in 2024, and in 2026 Ali İhsan Varol ile Kumbara is on NOW.

His route into television ran through the set rather than the lecture hall. At Ankara University he entered astronomy, then history, then public administration, and finished none of them; he spent about a year and a half in car rental in Bodrum, then worked in tourism. He joined television as a production assistant and after four years moved to scriptwriting. Kelime Oyunu made him a household name. The show was pulled in December 2013 after questions and answers alluding to the political agenda of the day, a decision that drew press criticism. It returned on FOX in September 2014, stopped again in February 2015, and resumed on tv2 on 8 May 2017. Varol also hosted a Circassian-language version of the show.

He began acting in 1998 in Star TV's Çarli, as the caretaker of the title character. In 2014 he joined the cast of Star TV's Kardeş Payı and later its writing team. The same year he played himself in Recep İvedik 4, and in İllegal Hayatlar (2023) he played a journalist.