washed up
Big budget reality show ‘facing the axe’ by BBC after just one series despite exotic location and huge cash prize
It came after The Sun revealed applications for new contestants had been 'paused' by bosses
THE BBC are reportedly gearing up to make a decision on their big budget reality show revival after just one series.
New reports have claimed that Survivor has failed to make it past its first season despite costing the Beeb a whopping £30million to make.
4
4
According to the , the programme has been canned after months of uncertainty after bombing in the ratings.
Hosted by Joel Dommett, the BBC had high hopes that it could become the corporation's new flagship show alongside Strictly Come Dancing but viewers failed to take to the show and quickly turned off.
With an average of just 2.7 million viewers, it was an unexpectedly low number for the BBC in comparison to Strictly and The Traitors and even flagged way behind ITV's almost 9 million for I'm A Celebrity - aired just weeks after Survivor kicked off.
An insider told the Mail: "It was clear at the time it went out the show was not a hit.
Read More on BBC
"They threw everything at it, but although a lot had been changed, and many years had gone by since it was last on, it still did not work.
"It got just the same response as it did back in 2001 and 2002 on ITV — which is that audiences thought it was boring."
"It's not going into production this year."
The reports further claims that all staff members who were originally working on the show have now been moved elsewhere to concentrate on other future projects.
Most read in News TV
However, The Sun understands that its future is yet to be determined with conversations actively ongoing.
A source said: "A final decision on the show is yet to be taken by the BBC and the show is still under consideration to land another series."
I won Survivor - the challenges were living nightmares and left my body in shock, I felt like I was dying
The Sun has contacted the BBC for comment.
The Sun had previously told earlier this year how applications for the series had been mysteriously closed amid doubts over the likelihood of the show's future.
Fans hoped for a return after a call-out for contestants was posted on the BBC’s Take Part page in December of last year.
Yet a note on the Survivor UK website earlier this year said casting had been paused, with further applications not being taken “as things stand”.
The decision was made quietly with the BBC not adding any further public comment at the time.
Contestants on the programme were flown out to the lush surroundings of the Dominican Republic where they had the chance to bag a whopping prize of £100,000.
Latest TV Show Axings
All of the shows we're saying goodbye to this year:
- The Masked Dancer, ITV
- Scarlett Moffatt's Driving School, BBC
- The Lazarus Project, Sky
- Better, BBC
- Dance Monsters, Netflix
- Laura Whitmore & Oti Mabuse's weekend shows, ITV
- Ross Kemp's 72 Hours In..., Channel 5
- Rise and Fall, Channel 4
4
4
Topics