Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Entertainment
Marc Baker & Lucy Needham & Anita McSorley

Gogglebox star 'fired' after 'angering' producers with Naked Attraction comment breaks silence

A Gogglebox star has claimed she was "sacked" from the show after angering producers with a comment about Naked Attraction.

Sheila Hancock, who featured in the Celebrity version of the Channel 4 show, said she complained about the amount of nudity she was asked to watch.

The 90-year-old is the second famous person to reveal they left the show after watching naked scenes.

READ MORE:Met Eireann forecast snow chaos risk as freezing Arctic blast to give Ireland ‘shock to the system’

Maureen Lipman walked last year, saying "life is too short to watch a series of hopeless men dangle their bits and pieces in my direction".

Both Sheila and Maureen appeared alongside their TV friend Gyles Brandreth on Celebrity version of the much-loved series.

Speaking about her exit, Sheila - an actress, singer, and author - told Mirror UK: "I used to love doing it with Gyles, but they sacked me from that. Well, they did not ask me back.

"I think it was because there were a lot of shows with penises in, and because it went down [well] with the audience, they kept showing them to us.

“Eventually I phoned up the lady on the edit and said, 'I am enjoying the show, but do you think we can have anything other than penises?’ and she was quite angry.”

Maureen Lipman gave a similar response as she explained her reasons for leaving last year.

She told the Radio Times: "I went in imagining that they wanted me for my wit and my brain. Of course, they just want to show you willies and for you to be shocked.

"Honestly, we were really funny together, but none of that was used. And if they don't want to use what we gave them, f*** them."

She went on to suggest Gyles will continue to appear on the show, but with another friend.

Maureen appeared on the show between 2020-2021 (Channel 4)

In another interview Maureen vented: "They’re not really interested in our opinions on what they’re giving us. I’d seen Gogglebox and I thought: ‘Oh, [ours] is the grown-up version, is it?

"But it’s your reaction to 12 dangling willies they want. They’re searching for ways to make me go: 'Urgh!

'So I thought: 'Well, actually, no, life is too short to watch a series of hopeless men dangle their bits and pieces in my direction. So I’m going'."

Gyles agreed at the time, saying: "Some of the things that Maureen has said are Oscar-winning funny. But what do they use? Us yawning!"

While Sheila appeared unhappy about her time on the show, she had nothing but praise for today’s quality TV dramas.

"They didn’t ask me back for some reason, I suppose because I was too rude" (Channel 4)

“TV is extremely good in this country,” she applauded. “I loved Happy Valley. When we do it well, we do it bloody well. The writing and the last scene was unbelievable. I am so proud of my profession when I see work like that.

“Vera is also a wonderful bit of work. She [Brenda Blethyn] is bloody marvellous in that and the show is beautifully lit and shot. Now TV has come into its own and it is one of the most prestigious things to do.”

READ NEXT:

Get breaking news to your inbox by signing up to our newsletter

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.