The BBC has snubbed a popular TV show as the broadcaster revealed its Christmas 2024 schedule with no sign of the star-studded programme.
Michael McIntyre’s The Wheel game show will not air on BBC One on Christmas Day.
In 2020, The Christmas Wheel aired on December 27, before it was bumped up the schedule to air on Christmas day for 2021.
But in 2022 and 2023, it was knocked off the prime time Christmas day spot, airing on December 29 instead.
Now, there is no sign of any festive special for The Wheel in the BBC’s Christmas 2024 highlights.
The final episode of season five will air at some point in December, however the broadcaster has not confirmed if it will be a regular instalment or a celebrity Christmas special, reports TV Zone.
Michael McIntyre ‘s The Wheel game show will not air on BBC One on Christmas Day 2024
In 2020, The Christmas Wheel aired on December 27 before it was bumped up the schedule to air on Christmas day for 2021. But in 2022 and 2023, it was knocked off the prime time Christmas day spot, airing on December 29 instead
The final episode of season five will air at some point in December, however the broadcaster has not confirmed if it will be a regular instalment or a celebrity Christmas special
The Wheel will not air on Saturday, December 14, as it the BBC airs Michael McIntyre’s 25 Years Of Stand-Up special instead.
The popular programme sees members of the public try to win cash prizes by answering quiz questions in specific categories, with the help of a number of celebrity experts.
As The Wheel spins, contestants hope they will land on the celebrity who has the right knowledge to help with their question.
The current season has seen more famous faces than ever before, including the likes of Robbie Williams, Mel B, Jonathan Ross, Big Narstie, Richard Osman, Jamie Laing and Sophie Habboo.
Season five, which began in October, also saw some changes made to the game’s set up and rules.
Michael explained: ‘Dermot [O’Leary], as he loves to be reminded, is the best performing celebrity in the history of The Wheel as he has come top of the leaderboard three times.
‘Nipping at his heels are Jonathan Ross and Claire Balding with two top place finishes each.
‘So, we decided from this series on that any expert finishing top three times would be inducted into the Wheel Hall of Fame, meaning that if a contestant lands on them they will forever be lit in silver and worth double money.’
The popular programme sees members of the public try to win cash prizes by answering quiz questions, with the help of a number of celebrity experts
The first huge change being introduced for the new series will benefit both the celebs and the civilian contestants
Michael explained: ‘Dermot [O’Leary], as he loves to be reminded, is the best performing celebrity in the history of The Wheel as he has come top of the leaderboard three times’
Robbie Williams left Michael McIntyre completely stunned as he gatecrashed the new series of the hit BBC show
The presenter added: ‘Dermot was overcome with emotion when he learned of this accolade, Jonathan and Claire are fired up to join him and the likes of Richard Madeley and Joey EsSєx, who have both finished last twice, can but dream.’
Season five will also debut a ‘double chair,’ meaning some celebrity experts will come as a team of two.
Michael quipped: ‘For a while I thought it would be fun to book celebs who are a couple, related, a double act or known for working together, so we built a chair for two.
‘So, our first dual spinners for this series will be Danny Dyer and his daughter Dani on The East End, Torvill and Dean on Ice Skating, newlyweds Jamie and Sophie Laing on Weddings and Chris and Rosie Ramsey on Super Mario.’
He joked: ‘And for people who think contestants may benefit from having an extra person on the Wheel, this has not thus far proven to be the case due to instant bickering between the pairings.’
The Wheel airs every Saturday on BBC One and is available to stream on iPlayer.