Claudia Winkleman Steps Down From BBC Chat Show: ‘I Was Too Nervous To Enjoy It’

Claudia Winkleman has confirmed that she won’t be returning to her BBC chat show.

The Claudia Winkleman ran for eight weeks earlier this year, and was met with mixed reviews from both critics and viewers.

On Thursday, the Bafta winner announced that she had made the decision not to carry on with the format – at least for the time being.

“Sometimes you have to try something to see how it fits, and I realised I was just too nervous to enjoy it,” she said in a statement.

“Maybe one day I will give it another try, but for now I already have the best jobs in the world and absolutely love the shows I’m doing.”

Claudia added: “I’m incredibly grateful to the BBC for giving me the opportunity, to the guests who agreed to come and chat to me, and the production team who were simply excellent.”

The Claudia Winkleman Show was executive produced by Graham Norton, who previously jumped to his fellow presenter’s defence amid criticism aimed at her programme.

He told the Daily Mail: “What Claudia did was The Claudia Winkleman Show, and that’s what she’s supposed to be doing.

“She shouldn’t be trying to be me. She should be trying to be Claudia, and she nailed that.”

The BBC’s director of entertainment enthused: “Claudia’s warmth and quick wit made The Claudia Winkleman Show an absolute joy.

“Whilst we loved the show, we fully respect her decision and would like to thank Claudia and the brilliant team at So Television for bringing the series to screen on the BBC.

Claudia can currently be seen in action in the latest season of the Channel 4 competition series The Piano, and will return to TV’s most famous castle for the second iteration of The Celebrity Traitors in the autumn.

This time around, the all-star cast will include comedians Miranda Hart, James Acaster and Joe Lycett, actor Bella Ramsey, former Little Mix star Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Oscar nominee Richard E Grant.

Share Button

Sara Cox Gets Glowing Reviews For Her First Day As Radio 2’s Breakfast Show Host

Sara Cox is off to a strong start after her first day as the host of Radio 2’s flagship breakfast show, if the reviews are anything to go by.

On Monday morning, she kicked things off with a playful start – making light of how long she’d waited to be appointed the host by playing Lizzo’s About Damn Time followed immediately by Cece Peniston’s Finally.

After the broadcast, critics were mostly won over by Sara’s first broadcast, with The Independent giving her a five-star appraisal.

“Cox brought all the silliness and fun from her teatime programme (and some of the features) – with an added dose of sparkle from an impressive A-list guest,” they enthused, referring to her previously-advertised interview with Tom Hanks to help launch her new show.

The Telegraph was similarly impressed, writing in its own four-star take: “Cox started as she meant to go on – a hectic, uplifting three hours of pure, unadulterated Cox. Bit spiky, bit rude, a lot of fun. There’ll be no repressing of the natural spirit here. And did she sound just that bit more Boltonian than normal?

“Having been a breakfast show stand-in many times over, we knew what we would get with Cox, though she did betray some nerves. These displayed themselves in a presenting style that sometimes verged on chaotic but never strayed away from charming.”

“It turns out there is little that injects more energy into a programme or an audience than the sound of a confident, successful, professional and unapologetic woman triumphant in the job she deserves,” iNews agreed.

They continued: “How refreshing it is to hear radio as mischievous and human as this – but then, that’s always been Cox’s great gift: she went from fun-loving ladette to fun-loving, reassuring mum who’s seen it all; she’s able to be light-touch without losing her sincerity, and she’s never sycophantic.”

More critical was The Times, who claimed Sara’s inaugural show “felt a little underwhelming” and could have been “bolder with what it jettisoned and introduced”, although its critic still gave the show three stars overall.

Sara previously said she was “ecstatic, honoured and incredibly chuffed” to be taking on the role, which she said had been her “dream” since joining Radio 2.

“It feels like a bit of a full circle for me,” she admitted.

The presenter hosted Radio 1’s breakfast show between 2000 and 2003, and had been Radio 2′s teatime host since 2019 before her latest appointment.

“I’ve had the most glorious seven years of my career on teatime so thank you to my brilliant teatime listeners who hopefully will join me at breakfast for excellent music and all my usual nonsense plus some superstar guests,” she added, noting that she “can’t wait to wake the nation up with the biggest most fun breakfast show ever”.

Share Button

Peter Capaldi Just Shared Why He Really Left Doctor Who

Peter Capaldi, who was the 12th Doctor on BBC hit Doctor Who, has spoken out about his exit from the show.

The Thick Of It Star left the franchise in 2017. In a recent appearance on YouTube series 100 Questions with John Simmons, he claimed that he decided to leave the role because “I just wasn’t sure that it was going to go in the direction that I… everybody was leaving that I’d worked with.”

He added, “Everybody was leaving. Jenna [presumably Jenna Louise-Coleman, who played the Doctor’s companion Clara Oswald] had gone, and Steven [probably former head writer Steven Moffat, who also left in 2017] was going, and Brian [likely Brian Minchin], the producer, was going, and those are the people that make it work for you.

“We’d had some talks about the direction. I wasn’t sure that that was where I wanted to go with the show. And I also thought, I’m not sure I could come up with anything new.”

<div class="js-react-hydrator" data-component-name="YouTube" data-component-id="3337" data-component-props="{"itemType":"video","isLiveblogEmbed":false,"index":5,"contentIndexByType":1,"contentListType":"embed","code":"

","type":"video","meta":{"author":"100 Questions with Tom Simons","author_url":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-71I3qt1d35IYL5XC-0LZw","cache_age":86400,"description":"The 100 Questions Patreon is now live! Just head over to https://www.patreon.com/c/100questions for extended cuts of every episode so far INCLUDING Stephen Fry, Stampy and Professor Brian Cox.\n\nSubscribe NOW so you don’t miss an episode, with new episodes dropping every Tuesday!\n\nPeter Capaldi is a Scottish actor, director, singer and guitarist. He was the twelfth incarnation of Doctor Who and is also known for his role of Malcolm Tucker in The Thick of It.\n\nWelcome to 100 Questions with Tom Simons. Tom only has 100 questions to truly understand his guest – no more, no less. As soon as he runs out of questions – the episode is over.\n\n00:00 Intro\n01:42 Episode Start\n\nListen to 100 Questions on Spotify! \nhttps://open.spotify.com/show/6AzaIexPNKUrdg5NYxhGqa?si=c347c03f3f8b4476\n\nFollow Tommy \nhttps://www.youtube.com/@TomSimonsVlog\nhttps://www.youtube.com/@TommyInnit\n\nFollow 100 Questions\nhttps://www.instagram.com/100questionswithtomsimons/\nhttps://www.tiktok.com/@questionswithtom\n\nWatch 100 Questions with Vogue Williams here!\nhttps://youtu.be/vWd___Q-HXE\n\nWatch 100 Questions with Brian Cox here!\nhttps://youtu.be/WVJDTj2YRWY\n\n#tommyinnit #100questions #100questionswithtomsimons","options":{"_cc_load_policy":{"label":"Closed captions","value":false},"_end":{"label":"End on","placeholder":"ex.: 11, 1m10s","value":""},"_start":{"label":"Start from","placeholder":"ex.: 11, 1m10s","value":""}},"provider_name":"YouTube","thumbnail_height":720,"thumbnail_url":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/g2q1Fk0GJaM/maxresdefault.jpg","thumbnail_width":1280,"title":"I asked Peter Capaldi 100 Questions","type":"video","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2q1Fk0GJaM","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"desktop","editionInfo":{"id":"uk","name":"U.K.","link":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk","locale":"en_GB"},"originalEdition":"uk","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isMobile":false,"isAdsFree":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"6a328835e4b0197d1ac0b42c","entryPermalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/peter-capaldi-doctor-who-exit-reason_uk_6a328835e4b0197d1ac0b42c","entryTagsList":"bbc,television,doctor-who,peter-capaldi","sectionSlug":"entertainment","deptSlug":null,"sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"","isWide":false,"isShopping":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"uk.entertainment","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc140cf94592c45d7390c","disabledWithMapiEntries":false,"overrides":{"all":"60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4"},"whitelisted":["56c5f12ee4b03a39c93c9439","56c6056ee4b01f2b7e1b5f35","59bfee7f9e451049f87f550b","5acccbaac269d609ef44c529","570278d2e4b070ff77b98217","57027b4be4b070ff77b98d5c","56fe95c4e4b0041c4242016b","570279cfe4b06d08e3629954","5ba9e8821c2e65639162ccf1","5bcd9904821576674bc55ced","5d076ca127f25f504327c72e","5b35266b158f855373e28256","5ebac2e8abddfb04f877dff2","60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4","60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","60d0d8e09340d7032ad0fb1a","60d0d90f9340d7032ad0fbeb","60d0d9949340d7032ad0fed3","60d0d9f99340d7032ad10113","60d0daa69340d7032ad104cf","60d0de02b627221e9d819408"],"playlists":{"default":"57bc306888d2ff1a7f6b5579","news":"56c6dbcee4b04edee8beb49c","politics":"56c6dbcee4b04edee8beb49c","entertainment":"56c6e7f2e4b0983aa64c60fc","tech":"56c6f70ae4b043c5bdcaebf9","parents":"56cc65c2e4b0239099455b42","lifestyle":"56cc66a9e4b01f81ef94e98c"},"playerUpdates":{"56c6056ee4b01f2b7e1b5f35":"60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4","56c5f12ee4b03a39c93c9439":"60d0d8e09340d7032ad0fb1a","59bfee7f9e451049f87f550b":"60d0d90f9340d7032ad0fbeb","5acccbaac269d609ef44c529":"60d0d9949340d7032ad0fed3","5bcd9904821576674bc55ced":"60d0d9f99340d7032ad10113","5d076ca127f25f504327c72e":"60d0daa69340d7032ad104cf","5ebac2e8abddfb04f877dff2":"60d0de02b627221e9d819408"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"16b0ecc6-802c-4120-845f-e90629812c4d","clickToPlayPlayer":"823ac03a-0f7e-4bcb-8521-a5b091ae948d","videoPagePlayer":"05041ada-93f7-4e86-9208-e03a5b19311b","defaultPlaylist":"2e062669-71b4-41df-b17a-df6b1616bc8f"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mNkYAAAAAYAAjCB0C8AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":12},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":0},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"6a328835e4b0197d1ac0b42c","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"desktop","page_edition":"en-uk"},"tags":[{"name":"bbc","slug":"bbc","links":{"relativeLink":"news/bbc","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/bbc","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/bbc"},"section":{"title":"News","slug":"news"},"topic":{"title":"BBC","slug":"bbc","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/bbc/"},{"name":"Television","slug":"television","links":{"relativeLink":"news/television","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/television","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/television"},"relegenceSubjectId":983515,"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/television/"},{"name":"Doctor Who","slug":"doctor-who","links":{"relativeLink":"news/doctor-who","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/doctor-who","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/doctor-who"},"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/doctor-who/"},{"name":" peter capaldi","slug":"peter-capaldi","links":{"relativeLink":"news/peter-capaldi","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/peter-capaldi","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/peter-capaldi"},"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/peter-capaldi/"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"signInUrl":"https://login.huffpost.com/login?dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffpost.com%2Fentry%2Fpeter-capaldi-doctor-who-exit-reason_uk_6a328835e4b0197d1ac0b42c%3Fhp_auth_done%3D1","cetUnit":"buzz_body","enableIncontentPlayer":true,"bodyAds":["

\r\n\r\n HPGam.cmd.push(function(){\r\n\t\treturn HPGam.render(\"inline-1\", \"entry_paragraph_1\", false, false);\r\n });\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n HPGam.cmd.push(function(){\r\n\t\treturn HPGam.render(\"inline\", \"entry_paragraph_2\", false, false);\r\n });\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n HPGam.cmd.push(function(){\r\n\t\treturn HPGam.render(\"inline-2\", \"entry_paragraph_3\", false, false);\r\n });\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n HPGam.cmd.push(function(){\r\n\t\treturn HPGam.render(\"inline-infinite\", \"repeating_dynamic_display\", false, false);\r\n });\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0,"midArticleAdPartner":null},"isCollectionEmbed":false}”>

Peter continued to say that while his regeneration, which saw the actor replaced by Jodie Whittaker, was “very sad”, he thinks that the biological process the Doctor uses to survive serious damage has become “diminished”.

Calling the concept “a very, very powerful death motif,” he said, “To be perfectly honest, I think there are too many regenerations.

“I love all the Doctors, but I’ve lost count now of how many of them there are, so the weight of this kind of regeneration is diminished. Whereas when I grew up as a kid, the first time it happened it was: ‘What just happened there?’ It was mysterious and strange. It holds the mystery of the show, the regeneration.”

It’s not the first time he’s expressed his feelings about the show, of which he was a super-fan in his youth.

On the Half Of The Picture podcast this year, he claimed: “The show became very, very big. And it was never like that when I loved it. So it became a different thing.

“I think the show is a little bit of a victim of its success. You know, the show that I loved was a tiny thing, a little small thing that survived. It just survived, but nobody knew that it was warming its way into the culture in such a deep way. And I think that’s what I have an affinity with.”

In the ’70s, the Doctor Who fan club received so much correspondence from a young Capaldi that then-president of the group, Keith Miller, said he felt “haunted” by the Doctor-to-be.

Share Button