Celebrity Love Island is no longer, after ITV1 director of television, Simon Shaps, confirmed the programme would be axed after the poor ratings of the last series.
The z-list celeb fest finished its second series at the end of August, with the last episode drawing in by far its best audience figures of the series at almost 3.9 million.
The show was won by Callum Best and Bianca Gascoigne, one famous for being the son of a footballer and the other for being the step-daughter of a footballer, who shared the £100,000 prize.
At the unveiling of the station’s winter schedule, Shaps said there was insufficient public appetite for the show to return.
“I think it was a terrific show and have nothing but admiration for the people who made it,” he told Broadcast. “It performed well in the first series and did dent Big Brother that year, but it was less successful in the second series.”
Shaps also said no decision had been made on whether The Sharon Osbourne Show would return. He said: “We are looking at research on the show and will make a decision after that.”
At the launch, controlled of drama Laura Mackie said that the new schedule was “the beginning of a journey for [ITV1] to refresh our drama.” She said the forthcoming programmes, such as the series of Jane Austen adaptations and the John Prescott affair, Confessions Of A Diary Secretary, would be original and talked about.
“We’re not there yet,” she said. “But you can see a shift.”
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