Jeremy Clarkson's Who Wants To Be A Millionaire future 'confirmed' after controversy
Jeremy Clarkson's future on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire has reportedly been confirmed by ITV bosses after the presenter's vile comments about Meghan Markle
Jeremy Clarkson's position on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire has been secured, as per reports. The future of the star of Clarkson's Farm on the ITV show has been uncertain since 2022 following his distasteful column about Meghan Markle where he wrote about the Duchess of Sussex being "paraded naked through the streets".
Following his harsh remarks, ITV director of TV Kevin Lygo distanced himself from the father-of-three, 64, and labelled Jeremy's rant as "awful", casting doubt on whether the presenter would continue to host Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. However, it's now reported that the Grand Tour star and ITV have received approval to commission a new series of the quiz show for 2025.
Some 18 months after the controversy, the broadcaster is believed to have been given the green light for a new series, which will include a combination of regular episodes and celebrity specials, GB News reports. According to Broadcast, the most recent series averaged an impressive 3.5million viewers, while the last two series have been streamed 4.9million times on ITVX to date.
This news follows reports that Jeremy was given a "lifeline" by ITV bosses after his column became IPSO's - the Independent Press Standards Organisation's - most-complained about article after its publication received more than 25,100 complaints.
The future of the show has been left hanging in the balance after Jeremy Clarkson made a controversial comment about Meghan Markle, dreaming of a day when she would be "made to parade through the streets of every town" with crowds chanting "shame", reports the Mirror.
The presenter issued an apology for his choice of words, labelling them as "disgraceful", and expressed deep regret.
However, according to a source who spoke to the Mirror, ITV is uncertain about how to handle the situation with the outspoken host, stating: "ITV have been playing a waiting game to see how things look and how people have been reacting to new episodes going out this year of Millionaire with Clarkson."
The column sparked a record number of complaints and was labelled as sexist, "humiliating and degrading towards the duchess", by IPSO chairman Lord Faulks. Prince Harry and Meghan also accused Jeremy of propagating "hate rhetoric".
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They further claimed that the article, published by the Sun in December 2022, was promoting "dangerous conspiracy theories and misogyny".
In response to the Ipso ruling, the Sun acknowledged that it "accepts that with free expression comes responsibility".
The publication and Jeremy apologised for the column and removed the article from its website.
However, while admitting that the comments fell "short of its high editorial standards and should not have been published", the newspaper did not concede that it had violated the editor's code, arguing that the concerns raised were a "matter of taste and judgement".
The update comes months after the latest series of Clarkson's Farm hit screens, with viewers finding out the fate of his piglets and cattle.
The full series, which features Jeremy alongside Kaleb Cooper on Diddle Squat Farm, can now be streamed on Prime Video.
