It was the big money project that was supposed to boost the career of British television’s most sought-after female host into the stratosphere.
But sources say a crisis is emerging behind the scenes of The Claudia Winkleman Show, just three episodes into its highly anticipated run.
For despite Claudia’s undoubted talent and huge success as the host of The Traitors, the new chat show failed to rank among the BBC’s most-watched programmes on Friday night.
And, more worryingly for the star and her team, it has prompted little reaction on social media.
Now Claudia, 54, who openly admitted she has ‘imposter syndrome’, is said to be struggling with the idea that her new project may not be a success.
A BBC source told the Mail: ‘Everyone, particularly the BBC, was so excited about Claudia getting her very own chat show. She couldn’t wait to get started but it’s not what she thought it would be.
‘Everything she touches turns to gold, usually, but it simply isn’t the case here. Claudia is the most successful female television presenter in Britain at the moment so it was expected to go better than this, she isn’t used to the criticism from the viewers.
‘You’d think it would be guaranteed for a second series at the end of this run. It probably will get one, but the chatter is that it may not be such a certain prospect.’
Perhaps Ms Winkleman is hedging her bets, for if her 1.3 million Instagram followers were to look at her account profile, they will see there is no mention of her self-named show in her bio. Instead she lists Strictly, Traitors and her Channel 4 programme, The Piano.
‘If you look at Traitors, she makes that show, she is brilliant, and she was the star of Strictly – but this is all new territory for her and it’s difficult,’ my source says.
Claudia’s new programme is in the middle of its initial six-week run, which has taken over the late-night spot previously occupied by Graham Norton’s show.
But critics say the series, made by Norton’s production company SO Television, has failed to attract the same high-calibre guests – such as Ryan Gosling and Taylor Swift – that his sofa is known for.
Ms Winkleman’s line-ups have been ‘generally mediocre’ in comparison. While they have included some big names such as former One Direction singer Niall Horan and actress Rachel Zegler, other guests have been comic Guz Khan, actor and musician Jeff Goldblum and singer Vanessa Williams.
Insiders say Ms Winkleman is aware that the guests have been poor in comparison to the A-list celebrities Norton gets, even though it is the same talent booker who works on both shows.
On Friday night, former Friends star Lisa Kudrow was the highlight of the sofa, which sources suggest may have happened with a little help from Claudia’s close friend, Courteney Cox. Alongside Kudrow sat Jamie Dornan, Bafta nominee Chase Infiniti and Jimmy Carr.
A source close to the show said: ‘Friday night was the best one yet but still it managed little pick-up.
‘It was clearly hoped to be a big deal because the following day the show’s PR was calling around [journalists] asking for content to be published from the programme.
‘The guests are generally mediocre compared to Graham’s. The audience participation is seen as a bit of a win though. It just hasn’t landed as big as those involved thought it would.’ Most chat-style shows rely on mixed-sex presenting duos, including The One Show and This Morning, while female-heavy line-ups, such as Loose Women or Vanessa, tend to be on daytime schedules.
Producers may have expected that, due to the prime-time success of Claudia and Tess Daly at the helm of Strictly, audiences had moved on from seeing only men as the anchors for TV’s biggest shows. Alongside Tess, Claudia broke the mould, but it seems her magic has yet to work with this solo project. In 2006, Davina – hosted by Davina McCall – was culled after two months when it failed to replicate the success enjoyed by her male predecessors, Terry Wogan, Jonathan Ross and Michael Parkinson.
‘The view for a long time was that the only woman who could buck this trend was Claudia,’ says a television insider. ‘She has been hot property for a few years now but even for her it seems like it could be a lot tougher than she had expected.’
