Channel 5 show Vanessa has commission extended
Channel 5 originally planned to air its lunchtime talk show Vanessa for "six months", but it has now extended its run for "eight months at least".
Channel 5 has extended Vanessa Feltz's lunchtime show.
The talk show Vanessa was originally planned to air for "six months", but now the TV presenter has confirmed the programme will run for "eight months at least".
Vanessa, 63, told the new issue of Woman's Own magazine: "We've just had an extension.
"We were commissioned for six months, but we're running about eight months at least, there'll be a Christmas break, and then we're very much hoping to come back in the new year.
"We're thrilled."
The show - which sees Vanessa have straight-talking discussions on relationships, parenting, gossip, fashion, and other topics with celebrity guests - launched in March.
However, one show that month only raked in 83,000 viewers - a big contrast to rival, ITV's Loose Women, which drew in 686,000 people.
And it has been reported that bosses at Channel 5 were thinking of ways to "revamp" Vanessa to attract more viewers.
A TV Insider claimed to the magazine: "Bosses have been locked in crisis talks and have been planning ways to immediately revamp the programme if there is to be a chance that it could be saved."
However, Vanessa is proving popular as the show took home the prestigious Talk Show gong at the National Reality TV Awards on July 30 - beating the likes of BBC's The Graham Norton Show and ITV's The Jonathan Ross Show.
Reacting to the award, Vanessa told London Beautiful Life Media: "I'm beside myself!"
Asked if she expected to win, the TV star continued: "Definitely not - you must be joking!
"The show's only been going since the last week of March, it's only July!
"And we're up against all the greats - Graham Norton, Jonathan Ross, Alan Titchmarsh, absolutely everybody! So I was not.
"I was thinking - I had this knot in my stomach of nerves, and I was trying to give myself a sharp talking to like, 'Don't be silly, absolutely don't stand a chance, the show's brand-new, we're never going to,' and then here it is, we did!
"So, it's one of those extraordinary moments. I'm shaking, and I'm thrilled to bits, and it's lovely for the team, and it's lovely for me, and it's lovely for the audience.
"And I'm just delighted."
