Comedian announces axe of Channel 4 show after ‘disastrous’ episode

Channel 4

A Channel 4 show was axed before it officially begun (Image: Channel 4)

James Acaster has revealed that his programme was axed after the pilot episode descended into chaos.

The comedian, 40, hosted the first 60-minute episode of a new series titled People Person but following a “disastrous” pilot shoot, it was decided not to proceed with a full season.

The 40-year-old comedian, best known for his appearances on Mock The Week, boasts a special titled Repertoire and co-hosts the culinary podcast Off Menu with Ed Gamble.

Yet, one venture didn’t pan out as hoped, with James confessing that “everything went wrong” while they were filming the pilot.

On the Always Be Comedy podcast, he recounted: “It was three hours of filming and I’d say everything went wrong that could have gone wrong. I absolutely loved it. At one point I said to the audience, ‘I think what they should do is just take these three hours, cut them up into six half hours in real time and put it out as a series.'”

James Acaster has revealed his show was dropped following the pilot

James Acaster hosted the first 60-minute episode of People Person (Image: Variety via Getty Images)

He added: “I’ve never seen them do that before. This is absolutely what we should do, this has been so f*****g nuts.”

The scrapped show took inspiration from a concept James had devised for Question Team, which involved comedians making guesses about the general public, with queries ranging from who had the most phone battery left to who owned the largest garden.

He explained: “It went from having four members of the public and four panellists to having 20 members of the public on stage behind me as well, who are also playing the game.

“And those four members of the public who are guessing… and the studio audience was there and [they had] things that they had to vote with to say what they thought the right answer was.”

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He admitted “everything went wrong” when filming the pilot (Image: Getty)

However, the show was halted when a wrestler shattered a sugar glass vase too quickly and injured himself. Requiring first aid, the wrestler broke character before asking if they needed to reshoot the scene.

Another programme that James won’t be making an appearance on is .

When asked if he’d join the dance competition, he responded: “No. Let’s not forget, I had a full-on meltdown during one day of Bake Off. From what I understand, Strictly is a bit more stressful than baking for charity.

“When the contestant goes out in Week 1, you can see their relief because they clearly underestimated how much work it would be. I wouldn’t even get that far. I’d have quit before it was broadcast.”

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