“The Claudia Winkleman Show” is officially being canceled after one season. Variety understands it was host Claudia Winkleman’s decision to not return.
“I’m incredibly grateful to the BBC for giving me the chance, to the guests who agreed to come back and chat to me, and the production team who were simply excellent,” Winkleman said in a press release.
“Sometimes you’ve gotten to try something to see the way it matches, and I realised I used to be just too nervous to enjoy it. Possibly sooner or later I’ll give it one other try, but for now I have already got the very best jobs on the earth and absolutely love the shows I’m doing.”
Winkleman, who’s best known for hosting “The Traitors U.K.” and “Strictly Come Dancing” (the British version of “Dancing With the Stars”), launched her eponymous talk show in February of this 12 months. The show, a sit-down chat on a settee with celebrities, was meant to function a complement to Graham Norton’s while he was on hiatus between seasons. Like “The Graham Norton Show,” Winkleman’s was also broadcast on Friday nights. Norton’s production company So Television was even a co-producer.
Nonetheless, the reviews were lukewarm and rankings were inconsistent, mostly falling wanting Norton’s 1.1 million+. And while she managed to get some impressive guests — the debut episode featured Jeff Goldblum, Jennifer Saunders, Vanessa Williams and Tom Allen — the rest of the seven-episode series didn’t emit much star-wattage (the penultimate episode feature Mr Blobby while the last was a compilation show).
Still, a second season was rumored to be on the cards, with the ball said to be in Winkleman’s court. She has now confirmed she won’t return.
“Claudia’s warmth and quick wit made ‘The Claudia Winkleman Show’ an absolute joy,” said Ed Havard, the BBC’s director of entertainment. “Whilst we loved the show, we fully respect her decision and would love to thank Claudia and the good team at So Television for bringing the series to screen on the BBC. Because the host of the country’s most-watched show, Claudia shall be back on the BBC very soon when ‘The Celebrity Traitors returns’ later this 12 months, and we are able to’t wait to see what she has in store for the brand new band of celebs.”