Beloved TV presenter Claudia Winkleman has quit her celebrity chat show after just one series, admitting she was "just too nervous to enjoy it".
The programme aired for seven episodes on BBC1 earlier this year and, despite mixed reviews from critics, achieved healthy viewing figures.
But the Traitors host, who also left the broadcaster’s smash hit Strictly Come Dancing after the last series, revealed she wouldn’t be returning for a second series, despite being offered one.
Winkleman, 54, said: “Sometimes you have to try something to see how it fits, and I realised I was just too nervous to enjoy it.
“Maybe one day I will give it another try, but for now I already have the best jobs in the world and absolutely love the shows I’m doing.
“I’m incredibly grateful to the BBC for giving me the opportunity, to the guests who agreed to come and chat to me, and the production team who were simply excellent.”
The Claudia Winkleman Show was launched amidst a major publicity push in March, filling the same 10.40pm time slot occupied by Graham Norton later in the year.
The ratings ranged between 1.4 and 2.3million viewers per episode, beating Norton’s long-running show, which first aired in 2010 and regularly attracted Hollywood A-listers.
Winkleman’s guests were often less well-known but did include Jeff Goldblum, Vanessa Williams, Jennifer Saunders, Schitt’s Creek creator Dan Levy and comedians Tom Allen and Josh Widdicombe.
One critic described the first episode as “a mess” but The Telegraph’s Anita Singh said that it had arrived “on a wave of goodwill”, with the host approaching “national treasure” status.
Ed Havard, director of entertainment at the BBC, said: ‘Claudia’s warmth and quick wit made The Claudia Winkleman Show an absolute joy. Whilst we loved the show, we fully respect her decision and would like to thank Claudia and the brilliant team at So Television for bringing the series to screen on the BBC.
Winkleman still presents The Traitors and its spin-off, The Celebrity Traitors, plus The Piano on Channel 4, and was also a part of the station’s Crufts coverage.
She and Tess Daly were also the longstanding hosts of Strictly, before announcing last year that, after two decades at the helm, they were stepping down.
Winkleman, the daughter of national newspaper editor Eve Pollard and author Barry Winkleman, says she is not religious but is “proud of being Jewish”.
Speaking to an 800-strong audience at St John’s Wood Shul in April, she revealed her grandparents were Holocaust survivors and recalled her mother keeping a suitcase in her hallway in case they had to make a quick escape.
Asked by an audience member about antisemitism in entertainment, she said: “The industry doesn’t feel antisemitic to me.
“I’m just giving you what I have experienced, but the growing antisemitism, Islamophobia and racism that we see everywhere is really, really terrifying.
“That’s why it’s important that people are there for each other and for other people from other communities.”
To get more news, click here to sign up for our free daily newsletter.