Claudia Winkleman’s debut chat show received mixed reviews when it aired last week, with one critic branding the much-hyped BBC offering a ‘huge mistake’
11:16, 17 Mar 2026Updated 11:16, 17 Mar 2026
Graham Norton has given his take on Claudia Winkleman’s new chat show(Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images)
Graham Norton has given his take on Claudia Winkleman’s new chat show, which kicked off last week. After leaving Strictly Come Dancing and planting her feet firmly underneath The Traitors‘ table as the smash-hit show’s host, it seemed the world was an oyster for Ms Winkleman.
Weeks after leaving Strictly, it was announced the face of Head and Shoulders had been given her very own programme, packed full of A-listers, with the new studio boasting a ‘cosy private members club feel’. However, after the debut show aired, featuring the likes of guests, including Jennifer Saunders and The Fly star, Jeff Goldblum – who waxed lyrical about his favourite pencil on the sofa – the Claudia Winkleman Show received mixed reviews.
Claudia Winkleman’s debut chat show received mixed reviews when it aired last week(Image: PA)
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Some critics loved it and praised the presenter for her ‘warmth’ and ‘wit’, however, others branding it “boring”, with one going so far as to suggest the BBC had a made a “huge mistake” with the idea.
Chat show king, Graham, who has hosted his own show for years with much success has now broken his silence on the programme. Commenting on Claudia’s show – which the Irishman’s company, So Television, produces – Graham insisted his pal had ‘nailed it’.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, he said: “‘What Claudia did was the Claudia Winkleman show, and that’s what she’s supposed to be doing. She shouldn’t be trying to be me. She should be trying to be Claudia, and she nailed that.”
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In the trailer for the new series, Claudia tells viewers: “They’ve given me a talk show. Agreed, an error. It might be excruciating.”
However, after taking part in the debut episode, comedian Tom Allen said he’d enjoyed the audience interaction along with the chat from the sofa. “It’s like Question Time for drunk celebrities”, he chuckled.
While the show fell flat with some viewers, who claim Claudia could ‘never replace’ Graham, there were a mixture of feelings from the critics.
Overall, they were impressed by the plucky presenter, who has taken over from Graham for seven weeks in a new London studio. The Independent gave the show three stars for the ‘classy, witty affair that has brilliant potential’ but added it ‘might need a few tweaks’.
However, while insisting, several times, that they ‘love Claudia’, The Guardian‘s critic says Graham is just too difficult to replace before branding the chat show “a mess”.
Meanwhile, the inews claimed Claudia had made a big mistake by stepping into Graham shoes. They said: “The Claudia Winkleman Show is one of her first major flops, ignoring her strengths as an unconventional, even bizarre presenter, and forcing her to fit into a mould that has already been perfected by someone else.”
The Claudia Winkleman Show is on Friday March 20 at 10.40pm, BBC1
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