Matt Lucas has had his BBC One awards show cancelled.
The ‘Little Britain’ star filmed two series of ‘The Matt Lucas Awards’ and a festive special, which featured chats with celebrity guests as they handed out alternative gongs, but TV bosses had no choice but to pull the plug after the ratings slipped.
A source told The Sun newspaper: "Matt’s a superb talent but ‘The Matt Lucas Awards’ were just a bit odd.
"It started out doing quite well in the post-ten o’clock news slot but over time, the audience just drifted away. A Christmas special was made but that’s it, time to move on."
The project first began as Radio 2 programme ‘And The Winner Is’ after Matt and his ‘Little Britain’ co-star David Walliams ended their comedy partnership when Matt pulled out of a second series of comedy ‘Come Fly With Me’. The pair have not worked together since and David was said to be disappointed with the decision.
Initially the viewings figures for Matt’s solo show were impressive but they dropped from 2.4 million in April 2012 to 1.6 million for the last series in April 2013.
Celebrities who appeared on the show include ‘X Factor’ judge Louis Walsh, actress Ruth Jones and TV presenter Chris Tarrant, who gave out awards for categories including ‘weirdest celebrity crush’ and ‘most unbelievable Bible story’.
BBC insiders insist the 39-year-old comic is still well-loved and is currently working on a new silent comedy called ‘Pompidou’.
The six-part series will air later this year and see Matt play a posh character who ends up with no money.
A friend of the star claims he hasn’t been left disappointed after the decision to axe his awards show.
He said: "Matt didn’t want to do any more of the awards shows in order to spend more time on Pompidou."
Matt Lucas has show axed
