{"id":418669,"date":"2026-02-10T21:00:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T21:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/418669\/"},"modified":"2026-02-10T21:00:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T21:00:09","slug":"fremantle-global-ents-director-to-depart-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/418669\/","title":{"rendered":"Fremantle global ents director to depart | News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"picture\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"AndrewLlinares\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1471693_andrewllinares_481677.jpg\"  loading=\"eager\" class=\"lazyloaded\" width=\"2668\" height=\"4000\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Fremantle director of global entertainment Andrew Llinares is to step down after three years, saying he \u201ccouldn\u2019t ignore the creative itch\u201d to return to producing shows.<\/p>\n<p>The former X Factor and Dancing With the Stars exec has led Fremantle\u2019s global entertainment portfolio and format development out of London since 2023, delivering 345 commissions and 302 productions last year.<\/p>\n<p>His departure comes shortly after that of Fremantle\u2019s chief exec of global drama and film <a href=\"https:\/\/www.broadcastnow.co.uk\/broadcast-international\/fremantles-drama-chief-christian-vesper-to-step-down\/5213041.article\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Christian Vesper<\/a> in January, after almost a decade in the role.<\/p>\n<p>Llinares has a long-standing relationship with Fremantle, having previously headed Thames\/Syco co-productions in the UK, and was the original showrunner on The X Factor and Britain\u2019s Got Talent during their UK launches in 2004 and 2007 respectively.<\/p>\n<p>After that, he was executive producer and showrunner of The X Factor USA and then showran Dancing with the Stars in 2018.<\/p>\n<p>Llinares said: \u201cI have been inspired by working within the Fremantle global leadership team and seeing the industry through a wider strategic lens. But I feel the time is right for me to return to my first love &#8211; making shows and being creative myself.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis has been a very difficult decision. Fremantle is an exceptional company with exceptional teams around the world, who I believe are the very best in the industry. It has been an honour to work with them all and our amazing global entertainment team &#8211; I know our paths will cross again. I\u2019ve loved every moment, but I couldn\u2019t ignore the creative itch to get back to making content myself. Now it\u2019s on to the next creative adventure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Following his departure, the Fremantle Global Entertainment division and leadership team will report to group chief executive Jennifer Mullin on an interim basis.<\/p>\n<p>Mullin called him a \u201cvisionary creative\u201d and said: \u201cI have proudly watched him nurture new creative formats, bring them to life on screen, and in doing so help unlock talent both behind and in front of the camera.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI fully appreciate and support Andrew\u2019s decision to return to his real creative passion &#8211; making shows again. Although he will be deeply missed, we all wish him the very best for the future, and I am certain our collaboration will continue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fremantle\u2019s entertainment catalogue includes lobal franchises such as Got Talent, Idol, The Masked Singer, Farmer Wants a Wife and The Piano, as well as new formats including Too Hot To Handle and Pandora\u2019s Box.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fremantle director of global entertainment Andrew Llinares is to step down after three years, saying he \u201ccouldn\u2019t ignore&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":418670,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[96,391,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-418669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-tv","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=418669"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418669\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/418670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=418669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=418669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=418669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}