Vernon Kay has criticised autocue, claiming it 'ruined' T4 and is 'the death of entertainment television'. The presenter, fresh from his recent stint on I'm A Celebrity, is now fronting a new ITV series called Game of Talents.
Kay, who rose to fame on Channel 4's weekend youth strand T4, said the device 'shackles' presenters and prevents spontaneity. He argues that instead of reading scripts, presenters should learn their lines and ad-lib in the studio.
T4 ran from 1998 to 2012 and launched the careers of Dermot O'Leary, June Sarpong, Nick Grimshaw, Ben Shephard and Alexa Chung. Kay recalled how he and Sarpong would 'riff around nonsense' and that the introduction of autocue 'took the spice out of it'.
Kay, who has since hosted All Star Family Fortunes, Splash and Formula E coverage, also expressed concern about the lack of youth-oriented TV for training new presenting talent. He suggested today's entertainment presenters are increasingly drawn from sport or comedy, citing Peter Crouch and Freddie Flintoff as examples.
Game of Talents is expected to offer a fresh format for ITV, though further details have yet to be revealed.
