Channel 4 bosses decided not to renew the popular daytime series of Kirstie's Handmade Christmas. The show, fronted by Kirstie Allsopp, is one of many programmes being axed as the broadcaster faces difficult decisions amid ad revenue falling.
According to reports in Deadline, Channel 4's content chief Ian Katz personally phoned Kirstie to deliver the news last Thursday. She has now confirmed that the daytime series will not be made this year, but a primetime version will air.
“I know it’s not personal,” she told Deadline. “We all take a hit on different things at different points in time. Hopefully, the ad market will improve and we’ll be back again.”
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She estimated that up to 30 production crew would lose work as a result of the decision, adding to the existing crisis that freelancers are facing in the industry.
Last month it was revealed that the channel's hugely popular reality TV show SAS: Who Dares Wins was coming to an end after eight series. The broadcaster is said to be 'shifting its focus' to the show's spin-off Celebrity SAS, meaning the original programme will be scrapped.
And Rise and Fall, fronted by Radio 1 DJ Greg James, is also unlikely to make a return for a second series.
A Channel 4 spokeswoman said: “The primetime show, Kirstie’s Handmade Christmas will air later this year as planned.”
