Dame Maureen Lipman has taken a step back from her role on Celebrity Gogglebox.
The former actress claims she decided to quit as Channel 4 show bosses didn't like her jokes. Maureen appeared on the show alongside broadcaster, writer and former politician Gyles Brandreth, as she replaced his former couch partner Dame Sheila Hancock in 2020.
But now, she has decided to call it quits as "they just want to show you willies and for you to be shocked". The former Coronation Street star suggested that Gyles will continue to appear on the show, but with another friend instead.
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Speaking to Radio Times about why she decided to leave the show, she said: "I went in imagining that they wanted me for my wit and my brain. Of course, they just want to show you willies and for you to be shocked. Honestly, we were really funny together, but none of that was used. And if they don't want to use what we gave them, f*** them."
Last year, Maureen announced that she was unhappy with the show. She said: "They’re not really interested in our opinions on what they’re giving us. I’d seen Gogglebox and I thought: ‘Oh, [ours] is the grown-up version, is it? But it’s your reaction to 12 dangling willies they want. They’re searching for ways to make me go: 'Urgh!'"
It appeared that the former actress made her decision to leave then, as she added: "I thought: 'Well, actually, no, life is too short to watch a series of hopeless men dangle their bits and pieces in my direction. So I’m going'."
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