Vanessa Feltz's Channel 5 daytime chat show has been cancelled only a year after its debut. According to reports, the presenter was blindsided and left furious by the news.
The Show's Cancellation
Since 2025, Feltz has been fronting her own TV show Vanessa. The chat show sees Feltz talk to guests and people at home who had called in to share their experiences of whichever topic was on the agenda. Many of these calls were from pranksters, some of whom pretended to be EastEnders characters and recapped storylines from the BBC soap.
A Channel 5 spokesperson confirmed to the Mirror that the show would be coming off air, saying: "Due to afternoon scheduling changes, 'Vanessa' will be rested from July 17th. We thank Vanessa and her team at ITN for 18 months of warm, witty, wise and searingly honest shows. Vanessa remains a valued member of the 5 family and we are discussing future projects together."
Feltz's Reaction
A source has now told the Mail that Feltz was blindsided when she was told that the show had been axed. They said: "Vanessa was brought into a meeting after her show came off air this week. She had no idea what the meeting was about and certainly didn't expect to be told it was not being renewed. She feels so blindsided but also let down by bosses."
The cancellation is thought to be linked to low ratings for the programme, as well as an inability to get the scam callers under control. The source said that producers "tried their best to crack down" on the pranks, but it couldn't be done. They added that Feltz had "given her all" to the show and was "truly devastated" by the news, especially as she had "left a very good role on This Morning" for Channel 5.
Background and Ratings
Vanessa's TV chat show originally aired from 1994 to 1998 on ITV, but was replaced with Trisha. After continuing her career on Channel 4's The Big Breakfast, BBC Radio 2, This Morning and more, she returned to the show, but this time for Channel 5, where it aired for an hour on weekdays, starting at 2pm. Since its comeback, the show has had three revamps, both to its set and its logo. This was thought to be an attempt to attract more viewers, but audience numbers remained low.
Another source told the Mail that Vanessa was "just not viable to keep on air" when many terrestrial television shows were "on the decline" and "haemorrhaging viewers". The programme is said to attract an average of 50,000 viewers per show, while Loose Women, which also has a lunchtime slot on ITV, is said to bring in between 800,000 to 1.2 million viewers per episode.
The Mirror reached out to Feltz's representatives for comment.
