Fans of Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway will surely be pleased to hear that ITV has commissioned another series of the hit show, which will be its eleventh!

The Daily Mirror reports, “The current series of the show – their first for four years – has proved enormously popular averaging 7.1 million viewers a week.”

And as we reported over on Unreality TV this morning, Ant and Dec have thrown down the gauntlet to BBC’s The Voice by claiming that SNT – which will air in the same timeslot as the second series of the talent quest – will attract more viewers… Read more & comment »

Fans of the once hugely popular game show Bullseye of course lamented its passing in 1995, and host Jim Bowen was of course also missed when the show ended its long run…

However, the good news is that Jim may well be about to make a comeback to showbiz as a Pope lookeylikey, because the resemblance between Jim and the new Pope is indeed remarkable.

The Daily Star today reports, “Thousands of Facebookers and Twitter users reckon the comic is the spitting image of newly-elected Francis I.” Read more & comment »

You may have seen a recent edition of game show All Star Family Fortunes on ITV during which Coronation Street star Catherine Tyldesley and her team won £10,000…

However, Catherine caused a storm of controversy when she revealed that the money was going to a charity that helps the families of prisoners.

Hundreds of viewers took to Twitter to express their disgust at the move, with one user of the social networking site branding Catherine’s actions as “tasteless” while others angrily claimed that charities working for the victims of crime were more deserving.

However, Catherine – who has apparently often visited prisoners who have no family or friends to visit them inside – defended her decision about where the money would go, saying, “Children and families of prisoners are innocent and often left with nothing.” Read more & comment »

Fans of Geordie presenting duo Ant and Dec will no doubt be aware that their hit show Saturday Night Takeaway is headed back to ITV a week on Saturday, and this time around, the lads promise that nobody is safe from their pranks, including the show’s audiences!

The Daily Star reports, “And they have devised some evil and explosive pranks to play on their unsuspecting big-name guests.

“We can reveal they will stage a very special ‘end-of-show’ surprise in every episode.”

The paper goes on to reveal that each week, a “major celebrity” will perform on the show, and the very first episode of the new series will feature Robbie Williams. However, it seems that Ant and Dec have a “nasty shock in store” for Robbie during his appearance. Read more & comment »

It’s been revealed today that classic panel game Through the Keyhole is to make a comeback to ITV later this year, and will feature comedian Keith Lemon – whose real name is Leigh Francis – taking a tour of houses owned by celebrities and offering up clues to the identity of the famous homeowner.

The show first became a hit when it aired on ITV in 1987 – it ended its run in 1995 but returned to telly on Sky for two special editions – with Sir David Frost hosting and chef Lloyd Grossman overseeing the tours of the houses.

At the start of each show, Frost introduced the panel of three celebrities, with the catchphrase “And what a panel they are….” before listing each celeb’s major achievements… Read more & comment »

Two of our favourite soap stars are about to go head to head in the new series of popular ITV quiz show, All Star Family Fortunes, in a bid to win money for their chosen charities.

Coronation Street star, Mikey North, who plays father to be Gary Windass in the hit ITV1 soap, will take on Emmerdale star and Dancing On Ice champ, Matthew Wolfenden, who plays David Metcalfe in the battle hosted by Vernon Kay.
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Tonight, Thursday, 27 December at 7:30PM we’re being treated to a festive episode of the ever popular game show, Family Fortunes, which is of course hosted by Vernon Kay.

An All Star team from Emmerdale – with captain Lucy Pargeter who plays Chas Dingle – compete against an All star Daybreak team which is headed by captain Aled Jones. Both teams are hoping to win thousands of pounds for their chosen charities… Read more & comment »

Silver fox Phillip Schofield returns to ITV1 tonight – Sunday, 23 December at 8:00PM – with a brand new Celebrity Christmas special!

Phillip Schofield is back baby yeah to host another celebrity special of The Cube for ITV1 which tests celebrities’ skill, nerve and determination to win.

This year’s Christmas Celebrity Special will challenge model and TV presenter Melanie Sykes and street dancer and Diversity’s Ashley Banjo, but who will come out top? Read more & comment »

As you’re probably aware, former It’s A Knockout host Stuart Hall – who currently presents a Radio 5 Live show – was arrested earlier this week after allegations of child sex abuse were made against him.

He was arrested at his home in Wilmslow, Cheshire, and taken to a nearby police station for questioning while officers searched his home for evidence.

It’s understood that his arrest was not linked to the Jimmy Savile police inquiry, Operation Yewtree.

The Sun reports that 82 year old Hall was accused of three counts of indecent assault which are alleged to have taken place in the 1970s and ’80s.

The paper adds, “One of the alleged victims was said to be aged eight or nine years. Another was 13 and the third 16 or 17.” Read more & comment »

Countdown veteran mathematician, Carol Vorderman, has revealed that she was banned from the studio of the popular daytime quiz after she left.

In June 2005 the producers of Countdown asked Vorderman if she wanted to fill the role of main presenter vacated by the recently deceased Richard Whiteley. Vorderman declined, and eventually the position was filled by Des Lynam with Voderman to co-host the show.
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It would seem that Celebrity Juice is to get a make over as the Sun newspaper reports today that Keith Lemon is looking for a new team captain.

Fans of the hit ITV2 comedy panel show will know how one of Keith’s current captains, Fearne Cotton, is currently pregnant with her first child, and has announced that she will be taking a year off of work when the baby is born.
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Producers of the hit Channel 4 soap, Hollyoaks, have denied claims that a Take Me Out contestant has been given a guest role on the show.

Leigh Booth, whose date can be seen on Saturday nights ITV dating show, Take Me, claimed today that he had been approached after his first performance last week, the first of the new series, to star in a guest role on the award-winning show, according to the Sun newspaper, as a postman, which incidentally is his day job!
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As her EastEnders character Tanya Branning, we’ve seen actress Jo Joyner getting up to a spot of romantic naughtiness with Max (Jake Wood) in his Car Lot portakabin office in the past…

However, Jo has revealed that it’s not only on-set where she’s prone to a spot of illicit kissing and cuddling!

In an appearance on All Star Mr & Mrs – which airs tomorrow night on ITV1 at 8pm – Jo confessed that she and hubby Neil Madden were once caught by police as they shared “a little kiss” in their car while at a park.

She said, “The police took our details and they said where’s your place of birth and when.

“I said Essex, I said ‘I bet you don’t see that many of us here.’ And he said ‘What? With so many clothes on?’

“I was fully clothed – it was just a little kiss.”

Happy Mondays star Shaun Ryder – who recently appeared on I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here – and his wife Joanne will also compete on the show… Read more & comment »

We reported a few months back that the hugely popular ITV dating quiz show, Take Me Out, was planning on hosting a celebrity Christmas special and today it has been revealed that one of the celebs taking part in the show will be ITV2 comic, Keith Lemon.

According to the Sun newspaper, the hilarious host of the massive ITV2 quiz show, Celebrity Juice, will be taking part as one of three male celebs picking a date out of 30 hopeful women to take with them to the Isle of Fernando’s.
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It’s been revealed today that Simon Cowell’s game show Red or Black? has been axed by ITV after recording increasingly low viewer ratings.

The game show, which is of course hosted by Geordie duo Ant and Dec – and which airs on Saturday nights in two-parts – boasts the biggest cash prize on TV, and that is in part why ITV bosses decided that it’s simply not earning its keep.

The first series of the show, which aired last year, was backed by a whopping £15million budget, which is the highest sum paid for a TV game show ever, but it still only managed to lure around five million viewers per edition.

The current second series has, so far, attracted around four million viewers on Saturday nights, but in terms of the number of us who usually watch anything that Ant and Dec are fronting – such as I’m A Celebrity and Britain’s Got Talent – that’s less than half of their usual bums on sofas count. Read more & comment »