Future of Claudia Winkleman's chat show revealed after ratings reveal
The Traitors host Claudia Winkleman is set to land a second series of her chat show, The Claudia Winkleman Show, after impressing BBC bosses with her early ratings.
Claudia Winkleman is set to land a second series of her chat show.
The Traitors host interviewed Jeff Goldblum, Vanessa Williams, Jennifer Saunders and Tom Allen in the first episode of her new BBC One programme, The Claudia Winkleman Show, last month, and she was rewarded with a viewership of 2.5 million in the first seven days.
In the ratings battle, Claudia defeated long-running series The Graham Norton Show, which had 2.3 million viewers.
An insider told The Sun newspaper's TV Biz column: "That’s a particular bonus for them because it shows that the younger, more online-friendly market are interested in the show.
"And that looks like she’s brought them across from her time fronting The Traitors which had a very broad market.
"That kind of shift really matters to the execs as that’s where they see the future of telly lying."
Following the show's early success, the BBC are already expected to offer Claudia a second series.
The insider added: "So it’s understood that Beeb chiefs are poised to rubber stamp another series - if that’s what Claudia wants."
Claudia will chat to actors James McAvoy, Rita Wilson, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and comedian Russell Howard in her next episode, which airs on Friday (03.04.26).
Last month, Claudia admitted it was "really scary" hosting her own TV talk show.
Asked how she feels about fronting her own series, she told the BBC: "Really scary. I know my job is to make sure the guests have a great time and feel relaxed - I imagine I'll ask them about their favourite biscuits and their dog and people will actually fall asleep. We’ll soon find out how it goes...
"It’s an enormous honour. He is the king, the best of the best. He’s incredibly generous and charming and easy to talk to and that’s why he always has the best guests.
"To be in the same slot is a total privilege and also completely nerve wracking."
Claudia's new show came after she and Tess Daly left their roles as the co-hosts of Strictly Come Dancing last year.
They said in a statement at the time: "We have loved working as a duo and hosting Strictly has been an absolute dream.
"We were always going to leave together and now feels like the right time. We will have the greatest rest of this amazing series and we just want to say an enormous thank you to the BBC and to every single person who works on the show. They’re the most brilliant team and we’ll miss them every day.
"We will cry when we say the last “keep dancing” but we will continue to say it to each other. Just possibly in tracksuit bottoms at home while holding some pizza."
