BBC suffers huge blow as Michael McIntyre's The Wheel axed after ratings drop
Michael McIntyre's The Wheel became a huge success when it launched on the BBC during the pandemic - but his spin-off of the same popular quiz show has now been axed.
The comedian created the Saturday night game show itself and even measured out the infamous chair lay-out to ensure it complied with social distancing.
After three seasons, the game show remains a hit with BBC audiences but the US version of the quiz show has been axed after just one series.
The Michael McIntyre fronted-series, which premiered on NBC in December, has not been renewed for any further episodes.
A US TV source revealed: “Michael was given a prime time slot and millions of dollars was put into giving the show the best chance to succeed.
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The Wheel has been axed in the US (BBC/Hungry Bear/Gary Moyes/Matt Burlem)“The channel also booked some major US celebrities like Christina Ricci, Ricki Lake and Tony Hawk. But sadly it just did not capture the imagination of audiences."
"American fans did not warm to the show or the contest," the TV source told The Sun.
A senior insider at NBC also confirmed the game show "is not returning".
Michael signed a multi-million-dollar deal with NBC working with executive Mike Darnell who is known for helping British talent have success in the US.
He has helped Simon Cowell and Gordon Ramsay in the past, who are both now household names in the States.
The Wheel failed to secure high ratings in the US when it aired for two weeks across the festive period last year, pulling in an average of 1.5million viewers.
Michael's quiz show also launched in France but with a different host and this series averaged 2.6million.
The Wheel has been a huge hit on the BBCMeanwhile, BBC viewers of The Wheel all shared the same complaint when a repeat episode of the game show aired on Saturday.
The gameshow involves contestants being chosen at random before taking on a colossal spinning wheel and answering questions with the hope of winning a big cash prize, with the help of celebrity advice.
On Saturday, one contestant took to the big seat ready to win a huge cash prize but it wasn't long before she was sent away again.
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BBC viewers demanded the quiz show step in to stop the same contestant from returning for consecutive rounds.
One tweeted: "The major problem with #TheWheel is that the same contestant can keep coming up for consecutive rounds - it happened last week as well ... #TheWheel," and another fan replied: "Agree it would be a generally better show if they excluded the chance of same person coming up twice #thewheel."
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