Celebrity Juice cancelled: Keith Lemon’s show axed by ITV
Game show has aired on ITV2 since 2008
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Celebrity Juice, the Keith Lemon-fronted game show, will come to an end later this year, ITV has announced.
The programme, which is in its 26th season, regularly welcomes a new host of famous figures to take part in various challenges, often ranging from silly to crude.
Team captains Laura Whitmore and Emily Atack have also been a part of the show since season 24.
When the show launched in 2008, Holly Willoughby and Fearne Cotton served as team captains. Willoughby left her panel position in 2020, two years after Cotton’s departure.
In a statement, Lemon (portrayed by comedian Leigh Francis), reflected on the show’s 14-year journey and his hopes for the future.
“I remember doing the first episode thinking, ‘Wow, that was fun!’ In the [voiceover] in opening titles, I said it was the best telly show on telly.
“Whatever you thought of it, it was definitely the best fun making it. An amazing team, and amazing guests, but all good things must come to an end.”
He continued: “I’ll miss it, and everyone so much, but on to the next chapter and I look forward to going out in style on the specials! All t’ best and good luck with ya business!”
The programme will conclude later this year with two farewell specials set to commemorate all of the show’s most memorable moments.
Since the announcement, people have shared their opinions of Celebrity Juice on social media. Some are happy to see the show ending before it changes any further.
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“So glad to see that Celebrity Juice will finally be ending with two farewell episodes later this year... it's not been the same since Holly and Fearne left,” wrote one viewer on Twitter.
Another fan was more upset by the news, writing: “I’m sad to hear @CelebJuice will be coming to an end. I’m sure [Keith Lemon] will be doing other shows for ITV, he’s a big talent.”
The programme, and Lemon/Francis’s sense of humour, have proved polarising in the past. Commenting on Lemon’s 2021 “mockumentary” show, The Holden Girls: Mandy and Myrtle, Ed Cumming referred to Leigh Francis as “Britain’s least funny comedian” and expressed surprise that Celebrity Juice was “somehow still going, like one of those early spacecraft still broadcasting from beyond the solar system.”
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