Graham Norton’s show axed from primetime slot and replaced with The Chase reruns

Graham Norton’s new ITV gameshow The Neighbourhood has been pulled from its primetime 9pm TV slot in a major schedule shake-up just two weeks after the series began

Graham Norton’s ITV programme The Neighbourhood has been axed from its primetime slot barely two weeks after its debut. The presenter, 63, fronts the fresh gameshow format where real households compete in a specially-constructed neighbourhood for the chance to scoop a £250,000 jackpot.

Expectations were clearly sky-high for the series as it launched between both parts of the explosive I’m A Celebrity…South Africa finale on April 24, and has been broadcasting at 9pm on Thursdays and Fridays since then.

However, The Neighbourhood has attracted merely half a million viewers. New schedules have now disclosed that the show will move to a 10.45pm slot going forward, stripping the show of its prime position. This Thursday those switching on at 9pm will find a repeat of Davina McCall’s Long Lost Family instead while an episode of Beat The Chasers: Celebrity Special, originally broadcast in 2021, will fill the Friday gap, reports the Mirror.

An ITV spokesperson acknowledged the scheduling change, stating: “The full box set of The Neighbourhood is now available to stream on ITVX. Additionally, the show will continue to air in an evening slot on ITV.”

The six competing households are The Bradons, The Kandolas and Samra, The Lozman-Sturrocks, The Pescuds, The Scouse Haus and The Uni Boys. Challenges push every neighbour to their limits as they attempt to knock each other out without becoming disliked enough to be given the boot themselves.

Ahead of the show’s release, Graham said: “Arriving in Derbyshire and seeing the set, I’d seen pictures but I didn’t quite understand the scale of it. It really is like being on a movie set, except it’s 360 – everywhere you look, it’s real. The art department did an extraordinary job of building up that town square where we do the removals, the pub, the cafe, the interiors of the houses. It really took my breath away!”

“It made it even more exciting. I thought – this is serious! We’re making a big show. Then add on top of that, what Derbyshire does when the drone goes up and we see the Neighbourhood and the nature and the rest of it, it’s so beautiful, those big driving shots. It’s just gorgeous.”

Graham continued: “One of the loveliest things about the show is seeing households who would never meet in real life, not only meeting but forming proper bonds of friendship. There are a few moments in the show that really do bring a tear to my eye because it’s just so genuine, so lovely and properly heartwarming.

“It’s such an odd word to describe a show like this but it’s properly wholesome. There’s something about the bright colours, being out in the countryside and the genuine bonds that you see created.”

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