John Bishop has confirmed he won’t be making any more episodes of his ITV chat show The John Bishop Show after struggling to compete with mainstays Graham Norton and Jonathan Ross
Comedian John Bishop has made the decision to step down from his ITV chat show The John Bishop Show after two series, admitting that competing with TV favourites like Graham Norton and Jonathan Ross is a tough gig – but he’s going to be focusing on another big project.
Speaking candidly about leaving the show, Bishop was quoted in the Daily Star newspaper’s Hot TV section: “I’m not going to do another series of my chat show. It was great to do, but I found that I was competing in a space that was congested. Graham Norton is brilliant at it and Jonathan Ross is brilliant at it. We really don’t need another chat show.”
The John Bishop show started in January 2022, and has remained quiet since its final episode in February 2023 until Bishop’s confirmation that it’s over for good. Despite comparing the show to similar hits, the comedian did interview some major names during his 13 episodes. Michelle Keegan, Maya Jama, Ian McKellen, and Richard E. Grant all appeared on the show, but Bishop admitted he didn’t love the TV format.
Expressing frustration over the brief nature of television interviews, he showed preference for longer conversations on his podcast The Bishop Exchange, and suggested that fans could find him there for more of the content they love.
He explained: “A chat show doesn’t allow you to do the depth of interviews that I would like to have done. With television, you’ve got to fit into schedules. But with the podcast, I can do it whenever I want to do it.”
Bishop also announced an upcoming UK tour celebrating his 25th anniversary in stand-up comedy, with a generous offer for fans: all tickets are just £25.
Reflecting on his career, he shared last year: “I can’t believe that next year it will be 25 years since I first performed. It’s been a rollercoaster! And I can’t thank the fans enough who have supported me all the way. I wanted to mark the anniversary with a brand-new tour and do something to say thank you – so every ticket throughout the tour will be £25. I really hope you can come and celebrate with me.”
Fans were delighted with the affordable price of his tickets, and super-critical Bishop even revealed that he’s hired a comedy coach in order to make the upcoming tour his funniest yet.
“Most comics will sit with another comedian then and they’ll try and make the jokes funnier and they’ll try and write more jokes. But I don’t need the comedian to talk to me about comedy. I need someone who knows about comedy to coach me, so I’ve brought a friend in, Cameron, as my comedy coach. He’s a producer, he’s produced a lot of my television shows,” he shared, adding that he’s thankful for his pal’s “critical eye.”
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