Room 101, which has been running on the BBC since 1997, has been cancelled. The pet-peeve-based show’s incumbent presenter, Frank Skinner, has confirmed the news in an interview with The Times.
Frank Skinner was discussing Nina’s Got News, the play he’s bringing to the Edinburgh Festival this year, when the interviewer asked a rather personal question: “Does steady work as the host of Room 101 mean he can afford to take punts like this?”
Skinner responded by saying this: “Room 101 is dead. But I’m all right fiscally, if that’s what you mean.”
Skinner’s publicist was apparently wincing at this, because Skinner was commenting on news that hadn’t been announced yet. To this, Skinner simply added, “But who the f*** cares, really?”
“I don’t know if it changes anything,” he reflected, before the interview moved on. “I’ve done seven series. I don’t feel that I have been washed up on the shores of stand-up.”
Indeed, Skinner has a lot of projects on his plate at the moment, including Nina’s Got News, numerous stand-up sets and his Absolute Radio show. Thankfully, he won’t be left high and dry by this cancellation.
But still, it’s sad to see Room 101 go. Nick Hancock and Paul Merton hosted the show before Skinner, and it ran for 18 series and 141 episodes in total. Those episodes allowed us to learn a little bit more about many celebrities, by laughing at their hang-ups and witnessing their rants.
We’ll bring you more TV news as and when we hear it.