I’m obviously going to be awful, that goes without saying, but I’m over the moon they’re letting me try.” Those were the words of Clauda Winkleman, at the end of last year, when it was announced that the BBC would be giving her a self-titled primetime chat show. The Claudia Winkleman Show premiered in March, yet just a few months later, it has been announced that it will not return. After just seven episodes, Winkleman is walking away from her own show.
“Sometimes you have to try something to see how it fits, and I realised I was just too nervous to enjoy it,” she said in a statement today. It was a striking admission from a presenter whose stock had never been higher before she inked the deal. The extraordinary success of The Traitors – in which her dramatic fringe plays an important role – and her sudden departure from Strictly Come Dancing made her next move a hot topic in the television industry. National treasure status beckoned, and there was a murmuring of assent when she was announced as the BBC’s latest chat show host. She combines the easy charm of Michael Parkinson with the quick wit of Jonathan Ross. At least, that was the idea on paper.
