Huge ITV comedy bags first ever Christmas special as channel bids to top festive ratings

ITV hopes Alan Carr will be the angel atop this year’s Christmas tree, as I can reveal channel bosses have added a festive special to the upcoming fourth series of his show Changing Ends. The autobiographical comedy has become one of the network’s biggest shows, racking up a 28 million streams and averaging three million viewers per episode. Alan Carr could be the angel atop this year’s Christmas tree Credit: ITV Popular comedy series Changing Ends has bagged its first Xmas special Credit: ITV So bosses considered it a no brainer to add a seasonal special to the fourth series.It comes as the BBC has been forced to axe Mrs Brown’s Boys from its festive schedule after Brendan O’Carroll broke his jaw. An ITV source said: “Changing Ends is one of TV’s most popular comedies so everyone’s really excited there’s a brand new series and Christmas special to air later this year. Sign up for the TV newsletter Thank you! “All the cast are back and viewers can look forward to more adventures of Alan in his teenage years.” The ITV sitcom stars Alan alongside Oliver Savell as the comedian’s younger self. Set in 1990, the next series features an image overhaul, Alan’s first job and an encounter with an inspiring drag queen. No doubt Changing Ends will bring ITV good tidings in its Christmas ratings too. Alan has spoken before about how much he enjoys working on the series – but did suggest it might have a shelf life. Speaking to Radio Times in 2024, he said: “I would like to do some more, but I feel its home is in the Eighties, so maybe 89 something and then.. Most read in News TV “When I reached the point where was I was like ‘I am gay, I am different, I don’t care what people think’ that’s when the spell was broken. “So I love this innocence, I love all the ‘what’s going on’ but there’s going to come a time when I think… as soon as I go ‘I understand and acknowledge what I am’, then that’s when it should end.” Stephen Banks of Kath Comedian Katherine Ryan and host Stephen Mulhern on Deal Or No DealCredit: Refer to source KATHERINE RYAN looks to be the latest celebrity to be bamboozled by The Banker on Deal Or No Deal. The TV comic tries her hand at Stephen Mulhern’s game of chance this weekend after a rollercoaster run for the famous faces on this series. So far comedian Guz Khan, TV host Zoe Ball plus Adam and Ryan Thomas have taken part in the game, which challenges players to open 22 red boxes in the right order to land a cash prize for charity. As well as her husband Bobby Kootstra and her pals, Katherine calls on stars including rapper Big Narstie, former Love Islander Chloe Burrows and I’m A Celeb’s GK Barry. Viewers will have to tune in on Saturday at 6pm to find out if she does better than the Thomas brothers, who walked away with £2,010. The siblings were joined by fellow ex-soap stars Sue Cleaver and Kelvin Fletcher who provided moral support from the sidelines. Last week Joe Lycett beat the banker to win £11,560 for charity in his second appearance on the show. In 2012 the comic was as one of the box-openers when Sarah Millican was a contestant on Channel 4. ITV rebooted the series with Stephen at the helm in 2023. Best put to the test Will Best has been training ahead of starring on Strictly Credit: Sofi Adams HITS Radio Breakfast Show host Will Best has swiftly learnt he does indeed have a face for radio. The Big Brother presenter enjoyed his first day of training for Strictly Come Dancing and was crushed by feedback from two of the female pros. Chatting to co-host Fleur East yesterday, Will laughed: “I learnt a lot about myself in terms of how I dance – it’s obviously the first day I’d done any ballroom dancing, and the pros were there and we were doing little dance masterclasses with them. “They were seeing what the chemistry was like between the celebs and the pros to see who you might get paired with. “Two of the female pros commented on my ‘dancing face’, I didn’t realise that I dance more with my face than with my legs, and two of them separately and unprompted said ‘It’s like dancing with Jim Carrey in The Mask’. “Two of them said the exact same thing!!” Somebody stop him. Comment now