Ellen DeGeneres, one of the leading personalities in US daytime television, has announced that her talk show The Ellen Show will end after its 19th season. In the opening of Thursday’s show, she told the audience: “Two years ago, I signed a deal for three more years and I always knew in my heart that season 19 would be my last.”
Her 60-time Daytime Emmy award-winning show has been running since 2003 and recently aired its 3,000th episode, but has seen ratings plummet in recent years. In 2020, there were multiple allegations that the show's workplace was toxic and "dominated by fear", but she claimed this was not a factor in cancelling the show. She summed up: "The truth is, I always trust my instincts. My instinct told me it's time."
The Friends reunion finally announces a release date
The highly anticipated reunion of hit TV show Friends has announced its release date: 27th May on HBO Max. The new teaser shows all six original cast members: Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry and Matt LeBlanc. The one-off episode will see the stars “return to the iconic comedy’s original soundstage… for a real-life unscripted celebration of the beloved show”.
The six main cast members will be joined by series regulars Reese Witherspoon, Elliott Gould, and Tom Selleck. There is also a star-studded line-up of celebrity fans joining the episode, including David Beckham, Justin Bieber, James Corden, Cindy Crawford. Mindy Kaling, Lady Gaga, and even Malala Yousafzai.
Channing Tatum’s new children’s book tops the New York Times bestsellers list
Magic Mike star Channing Tatum has turned his hand to children’s picture books and has already seen tremendous success. His new release, The One and Only Sparkella, has already rocketed to the top of the NYT bestsellers chart. The book was inspired by his relationship with his daughter, Everly, telling the story of a father and a daughter.
He thanked fans on Twitter, writing: “I’m literally speechless right now! Ten year old me would never believe this. Evie and I want to thank each and every one of you all for all of the Sparkella love. I couldn’t be more excited right now!”
Dragon’s Den signs up its youngest ever dragon
BBC hit show Dragon’s Den has hired its youngest ever dragon: 28-year-old Steven Bartlett. He is the CEO of social media marketing agency The Social Chain, which he set up from his home in Manchester and is now valued at £300 million. He is replacing Vitabiotics CEO Tej Lalvani, who leaves the show after four years as a dragon.
He will join the panel of dragons, which currently includes Deborah Meaden, Peter Jones, Touker Suleyman and Sara Davies for season 19. Steven said: “It’s a tremendous honour to join the Den, hopefully representing a new generation of entrepreneurs, inspiring young and specifically under-represented entrepreneurs to follow in my footsteps.”
I’m a Celebrity faces being stuck in Wales for a second year
I’m A Celebrity is facing filming in Wales for a second year running as Australia shows no intention of opening its borders. The successful ITV reality show was moved to North Wales for its 2020 series because of travel restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic. Fans hoped that the vaccine rollout would lead to Australia reopening its borders – but this isn’t looking likely. Australian prime minister Scott Morrison has emphasised borders will only reopen “when it is safe to do so”.
A TV insider said: “Ultimately, they are at the mercy of Covid-19 restriction. Formally an agreement is in place for the use of Gwrych Castle this year. Should the show need to be held there again it has all got the green light.” Within the current rules, every person involved with the show, including all cast and crew, would have to apply for individual travel exemptions to move forward with the filming in its usual location.
Image Credit: Bogomil Mihaylov at Unsplash
